"Elmer  tries  to  tell  us  he  is  pursuing  the  two  who  headed 
northwest." 


PATHFINDER; 

or, 
The  Missing  Tenderfoot 


BY 

CAPTAIN  ALAN  DOUGLAS 

SCOUT  MASTER 


M.    A.    DONOHUE   &    COMPANY 

CHICAGO  ::  NEW  YORK 


COPYRIGHT  1913,  BT 
THE  NEW  YORK  BOOK  COMPANY 


Made  in  U.  S.  A. 


PATHFINDER; 

OR. 

THE  MISSING  TENDERFOtTiv 

CHAPTER   L 

* 

THE  BIRCH-BARK    MESSAGE 

"  HOLD  on,  boys;  here's  a  stick  standing  upright  in  the 
trail.  And  look,  fellows,  there's  a  piece  of  nice  new 
birch  bark  held  fast  in  the  cloven  end,  that  grips  it  like 
the  jaws  of  a  vise." 

"  Say,  it's  a  message,  all  right." 

"  And  from  our  crack-a-jack  pathfinder,  Elmer  Chen<x 
with,  too,  I  warrant  you." 

"  What  do  you  say,  Matty?    Is  Bed  Huggins  right?  '* 

Seven  boys  had  come  to  a  halt  in  the  heart  of  the  big 
woods.  They  were  a  rather  husky -looking  set,  all  told, 
and  evidently  bent  on  getting  all  the  benefit  possible  from 
being  outdoors  through  the  last  few  weeks  of  vacation  time. 

The  one  appealed  to,  Matty  Eggleston  by  name,  was 
something  of  a  leader  among  the  Hickory  Ridge  Troop  o/ 
Boy  Scouts. 

In  fact,  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  Beaver  Patrol,  and 
studying  constantly  in  order  to  attain  the  rank  of  a  first- 
class  scout. 

There  are  so  very  many  things  a  boy  must  know  in  order 

17 

1824O43 


18  PATHFINDER. 

te  reach  this  ambition  that  comparatively  few  scouts  ever 
attain  it.  But  by  concentrating  all  his  energies  upon  one 
particular  study  he  may  earn  a  merit  badge,  which  it 
will  make  him  proud  to  wear. 

Matty  took  the  piece  of  bark  from  the  cloven  stick.  The 
other  six  boys  clustered  eagerly  around,  anxious  to  see 
what  sort  of  message  it  could  be  that  the  assistant  scout 
master  had  left  in  the  trail. 

They  were  out  to  try  a  new  experience,  and  one  that  ap- 
pealed to  every  boy  in  the  bunch. 

A  party  of  the  scouts,  their  identity  and  number  un- 
known to  Elmer  and  the  balance,  had  started  off  for  the 
woods  early  in  the  day. 

An  hour  later,  Elmer,  with  one  companion,  had  taken  up 
the  trail,  and  when  a  second  hour  had  elapsed  the  balance* 
of  those  who  were  bent  upon  playing  the  game  left  town  in 
two  detachments. 

It  had  been  arranged  that  Elmer  was  to  act  as  pathfinder 
and  tracker.  He  would  in  turn  leave  a  plain  trail  that  a 
child  could  follow. 

Besides  this,  he  had  promised  to  transmit  from  time  to 
time  some  sort  of  message.  Thus  those  who  came  along  in 
the  rear,  in  two  detachments,  would  be  kept  in  touch  with 
events,  and  also  advised  as  to  what  they  should  do. 

The  party  bringing  up  the  rear  was  headed  by  Mark 
Cummings,  who  was  Elmer's  particular  chum.  He  was 
really  the  bugler  of  the  troop ;  but  for  this  occasion  Elmer 
himself  carried  that  instrument,  with  the  idea  of  calling 
the  scouts  together  at  some  time  later  on. 

"  Hey,  look  at  that,  would  you; 'it's  all  marked  up  with 
crow's  feet  tracks  I  "  exclaimed  Landy  Smith,  a  rather  fat 


PATHFINDER.  19 

boy  who  had  only  recently  joined  the  "Wolf  Patrol,  making 
the  eighth  and  last  member. 

"  What's  Elmer  think  we  are,  a  lot  of  kids,  to  leave  us 
an  illustrated  rebus  to  guess?  Look's  to  me  like  a  little 
boy's  first  try  to  draw  cows  and  Noah's  Ark  people.'* 

Some  of  the  others  laughed  when  George  Bobbins  gave 
expression  to  his  disgust  in  this  way.  George  was  a  cousin 
to  Landy,  and  had  also  recently  signed  the  muster  roll  of 
the  scouts,  although  he  belonged  to  Matty's  patrol,  the 
Beaver. 

"  You've  got  a  heap  to  learn  yet,  George,"  said  Red 
Huggins,  shaking  his  head  at  the  offender. 

"  In  what  way?  "  demanded  the  other. 

"  Why,  this  is  what  they  call  Injun  picture  writing/* 
replied  Red,  obligingly. 

"  Oh!  it  is,  eh?  But  what's  that  got  to  do  with  finding 
a  trail,  or  following  one  that's  already  found?  "  asked  the 
latest  tenderfoot. 

"  A  heap,  as  you'll  soon  learn,  my  boy,"  replied  Red, 
with  a  pitying  look,  as  if  he  could  not  understand  how 
anyone  should  be  so  green.  "  Matty,  suppose  you  en- 
lighten him  a  little,  won't  you — that  is,  if  you've  got 
through  reading  your  letter?  " 

"  Letter!  "  ejaculated  both  Landy  and  George — "  that 
thing  a  letter?  " 

"  A  short  and  sweet  one,"  remarked  Matty.  "  You  see, 
Elmer  has  signed  it  with  what  I  make  out  to  be  the  paw  of 
a  wolf.  That's  the  totem  of  his  patrol,  while  mine  is  a 
beaver  tail,  and  the  third  one  would  be  the  claw  of  an 
eagle." 

B  s — 26 


20  PATHFINDER. 

"  Say,  that  sounds  kind  of  interesting  like,"  observed 
Landy.  "  I  rather  expect  I'll  cotton  to  this  same  Injun 
picture  writing  letter  business,  once  I  get  at  the  secret  key 
of  it." 

"  That's  where  you're  away  off  to  start  with,  Landy," 
remarked  Matty,  laughing,  "  because  you  see  there's  noth- 
ing hidden  about  this  business  at  all.  In  fact,  the  one  par- 
ticular idea  with  the  one  who  writes  a  message  in  Indian 
picture  writing  is  to  make  it  so  simple  a  child  might  un- 
derstand." 

"  Well,  I  declare,"  cried  the  fat  scout,  who  was  not  in 
khaki  uniform  like  four  of  his  companions,  simply  because 
he  and  George  were  waiting  until  the  town  tailor,  father 
to  Jasper  Merriweather,  one  of  the  members  of  the  troop, 
could  complete  their  suits — "  then,  if  a  baby  could  under- 
stand what  our  pathfinder  has  left  for  us,  perhaps  now 
there  might  be  some  chance  for  me." 

"  Oh!  it's  as  easy  as  falling  off  a  log,  once  you  get  the 
hang  of  it,"  declared  Larry  Billings. 

"  Look  here,  and  I'll  show  you,  fellows,"  remarked 
Matty,  holding  the  bark  up  so  that  everyone  present  could 
see  the  lead-pencil  marks. 

"  Looks  like  several  men,  to  start  with,"  interposed 
George. 

"  Good  enough,  George,"  said  the  patrol  leader,  "  and 
that's  just  what  they  are.  Count  them,  will  you?  " 

"  One,  two,  three." 

"  That's  right.  So  you  see,  to  begin  with,  our  path- 
finder tells  us  the  enemy  ahead  are  three  in  number.  Now, 
do  you  see  anything  close  by  those  three  figures  of  men?  " 


PATHFINDER.  21 

and  Matty  held  the  bark  directly  in  front  of  Landy  and 
George. 

"  Sure,"  replied  George.  "  Under  one  is  a  mark — say, 
it  looks  like  the  same  down  at  the  bottom  of  the  letter,  and 
you  said  that  was  the  sign  or  totem  of  the  Wolf  Patrol. ' ' 

"  Just  so;  and  this  tells  us  the  first  fellow  is  a  member 
of  that  patrol.  Under  the  others  you  will  see  marks  to  in- 
dicate that  they  are  members  of  the  Beaver  and  the  Eagle 
patrols." 

"  That's  so,  Matty;  I  can  see  'em,"  declared  Landy, 
who  evidently  did  not  wish  his  cousin  to  get  all  the  credit 
for  smartness. 

"All  right.  Let's  get  on  a  little,"  said  Matty.  "First 
notice  two  have  hats  on,  while  the  third  wears  none.  Now, 
you  may  think  that  an  accident  in  drawing,  but  it  isn't  at 
all.  Elmer  meant  it  for  something." 

"  And  I  can  guess  what  it  is,"  declared  Chatz  Maxfield, 
the  Southern  boy. 

"  Then  tell  the  rest  of  us,"  cried  several. 

1 '  "Why,  it 's  dead  easy, ' '  was  his  reply.  ' '  Stop  and  think ; 
who's  always  losing  his  hat  every  chance  he  gets?  " 

"  Nat  Scott!  "  quickly  exclaimed  Landy. 

"  All  right.  And  don't  we  happen  to  know  that  Nat  was 
one  of  those  who  went  ahead  of  Elmer  and  Lil  Artha  by  an 
hour  or  so,"  laughed  Red. 

"  "Well,  I  declare!  "  cried  Landy,  "  and  do  you  mean 
to  say  Elmer  has  guessed  that,  or  did  he  see  the  fellows  be- 
fore he  wrote  this  letter?  " 

"  Neither  one  nor  the  other.  He  just  figured  it  out 
from  something  he  found.  Perhaps  he  knows  what  the 


22  PATHFINDER. 

print  of  Nat's  shoe  looks  like,  for  we  all  make  different 
tracks,  you  know." 

"  Yes,"  said  Chatz,  "  that  would  be  just  like  Elmer. 
He's  the  most  observing,  wide-awake  fellow  I  ever  knew 
since  I  came  up  from  the  South.  I've  seen  him  measuring 
some  of  our  tracks,  and  making  a  copy  in  that  wonderful 
little  book  of  his." 

"  Now,  let's  get  on  a  little  further.  Do  you  see  that 
the  second  figure,  no  matter  how  often  he  appears,  always 
has  his  left  leg  bent  a  little?  "  and  Matty  pointed  in 
several  places  to  confirm  his  statement. 

Immediately  Red  laughed  aloud,  and  then  in  one  breath 
he  and  Larry  exclaimed: 

"  That's  Ty  Collins,  as  sure  as  anything!  " 

"  I  guess  you've  hit  the  mark,"  said  Matty,  "  and  that 
was  just  what  Elmer  was  trying  to  tell  us.  Ty's  left  leg 
has  always  been  a  little  crooked  since  he  fell  out  of  that 
cherry  tree  three  years  ago.  Now,  the  third  fellow  got  me 
at  first,  but  come  to  look  at  him  he  seems  a  little  different 
from  the  others.  See  here,  and  here,  and  here. ' ' 

"  That's  a  fact,"  declared  Landy,  scratching  his  nose  in 
a  way  he  had  when  puzzled. 

"  He  can't  mean  he's  a  dead  one,  and  sprouting  wings, 
can  he?  "  asked  George. 

"  Wings!     I've  got  it,  fellows!  "  shouted  Red. 

"  Then  pass  it  around  to  the  rest,  because  I'm  all  up  a 
stump,"  observed  Larry. 

"  Shucks!  don't  you  know  there's  only  one  fellow  in 
the  whole  troop  who's  always  sighing  because  he  can't  flyf 
and  wishes  he  had  wings  ?  ' '  demanded  Red,  promptly. 


PATHFINDER.  23 

"  Toby  Jones,  the  boy  who's  bent  on  sailing  through  the 
clouds  some  day!  "  cried  Chatz. 

"  Exactly,"  remarked  Matty.  "  And  in  this  clever 
way  our  pathfinder  has  told  us  who  the  three  scouts  ahead 
are.  Now  he  shows  them  coming  to  a  fork  in  the  trail. 
One  goes  to  the  north,  and  the  others  to  the  northwest. 
Which  party  can  be  carrying  the  wampum  belt  we  expect 
to  trace  down?  " 

All  of  them  looked  again,  and  while  several  shook  their 
heads  Red  remarked: 

"  Seems  to  me  one  of  the  two  that  kept  together  fell 
down  just  at  the  fork  of  the  trail.  Was  that  only  an  ac- 
cident, Matty,  or  a  part  of  the  play?  " 

"  I  believe  it  was  done  on  purpose,"  the  other  replied. 
"  Because,  if  you  look  closely,  you'll  find  that  the  one  who 
stretched  out  on  the  ground  was  Ty,  and  that  from  that 
time  on  he  has  a  funny  little  wiggly  line  drawn  around  his 
waist." 

"  Sure,  he  has.  That  must  be  the  wampum  belt,"  ex- 
claimed Red. 

"  Yes.  No  doubt  he  was  instructed  by  our  scout  m°ster, 
Mr.  Garrabrant,  that  when  they  separated  the  fellow  carry- 
ing the  belt  must  do  something  to  show  it.  That  was  a 
clever  dodge  of  Ty's  to  lie  down,  and  make  an  impression 
in  the  earth." 

"  Yes,  and  smarter  yet  for  Elmer  to  discover  the  impres- 
sion, and  read  it,"  declared  Chatz. 

"  What  else  does  the  letter  say?  "  asked  Landy,  who 
seemed  quite  enthused  now,  after  discovering  how  exceed- 
ingly interesting  this  communicating  by  means  of  Indian 
picture  writing  might  become. 


24  PATHFINDER. 

* '  Elmer  tries  to  tell  us  he  is  pursuing  the  two  who  headed 
northwest.  You  see  he  has  made  an  arrow  showing  this 
fact,"  Matty  continued.  > 

"  But  there  are  some  other  marks;  can  you  make  them 
out  at  all?  "  asked  Landy. 

"  This  is  certainly  a  fire.  Before  separating,  the  three 
enemies  built  a  fire  and  pretended  to  *eed.  Here  they  are 
sitting  around  the  blaze  and  eating;  and  if  you  look  over 
yonder  right  now,  you'll  see  the  ashes  where  the  fire  has 
been." 

All  of  them  hurried  across  to  where  Matty  pointed. 

"By  all  that's  wonderful,  there  has  been  a  camp  fire 
here,"  said  Landy. 

"You're  a  little  off  there,  Landy,"  corrected  the  leader 
of  the  Beaver  Patrol;  "  this  was  only  a  little  cooking  blaze, 
not  a  camp  fire." 

"  But  what's  the  difference?  "  demanded  the  new  re- 
cruit; "  I  thought  a  fire  must  be  a  fire." 

"  Well,"  said  Matty,  "  when  hunters  are  in  a  hostile 
country  and  want  to  prepare  a  meal  they  dig  a  hole  and 
make  a  small  blaze  in  it  that  will  be  hot  enough  for  their 
purpose,  but  which  might  not  be  seen  fifty  feet  away. ' ' 

"  And  a  camp  fire?  "  continued  the  novice. 

"  Quite  a  different  matter.  That  is  generally  a  rousing 
blaze  made  for  comfort,  and  at  a  time  when  no  danger  is 
feared.  This  was  only  a  cooking  fire,"  Matty  went  on  to 
explain,  as  he  again  thrust  the  "  message  "  into  the  jaws 
of  the  cloven  stiek. 

"  Do  you  know  how  long  ago  this  fire  was  made?  "  asked 
George. 


PATHFINDER.  2k 

"  The  ashes  are  cold  now,  but  they  must  have  been  warm 
«rhen  Elmer  was  here.  He  says  so — anyhow,  that's  the  way 
I  read  it.  Here  are  four  hands  held  up.  Counting  fingers 
and  thumbs  he  wants  us  to  know  he  has  gained  on  the 
enemy,  and  was  only  twenty  minutes  behind  when  they 
separated  at  this  fire." 

"  Well,  that  takes  the  cake!  "  ejaculated  Landy,  whose 
whole  appearance  indicated  amazement. 

"  I  wonder  if  it's  going  to  turn  out  so?  "  remarked 
George,  who  was  always  unbelieving,  and  hence  sometimes 
called  by  his  friends  "  Doubting  George." 

"  Well,  we'll  prove  it  later,"  said  Matty,  "  because  I 
am  putting  all  these  things  down  in  my  record.  When  we 
come  together  Elmer  will  tell  us  what  he  meant,  and  read 
our  answers  out  loud.  Then  we'll  see  how  that  second 
squad  come  out.  But  let's  be  on  the  move  again,  fellows. 
Plenty  to  do  before  we  overhaul  our  pathfinder,  and  find 
out  if  he  secured  the  wampum  belt.  Come  along,  every- 
body! " 


CHAPTER   II. 

AT   THE   HAUNTED  MILL. 

ONCE  more  the  little  squad  of  scouts  resumed  their  for- 
ward movement. 

Matty  remained  at  their  head,  as  before.  This  game 
was  growing  more  delightful  to  him  every  minute,  and 
some  of  the  others  were  f  eeling  the  same  way. 


26  PATHFINDER. 

Of  course  it  was  easy  work  for  those  who  came  after, 
and  the  second  bunch,  headed  by  Mark  Cummings,  would 
have,  as  Red  expressed  it,  a  "  snap." 

The  real  work  of  following  the  trail  was  falling  upon 
Elmer  and  his  companion,  the  tall,  angular  fellow  known 
among  his  mates  as  Lil  Artha. 

In  carrying  out  the  purpose  of  the  game  they  were  to  do 
all  the  reading  of  the  signs,  and  leave  a  plain  track  for 
those  who  came  after.  But  the  two  detachments  of  scouts 
were  expected  to  pick  up  as  much  knowledge  concerning 
the  methods  used  as  they  could. 

Besides  this,  they  must  read  the  messages  left  occasion- 
ally by  their  pathfinder. 

For  quite  some  time  the  boys  scurried  along.  More  than 
once  they  had  to  quicken  their  pace  to  what  Matty  called 
a  "  dog-trot."  This  happened  especially  when  the 
* '  signs  ' '  were  very  plain. 

' '  Why  all  this  haste  ?  ' '  asked  Landy,  who  seemed  to  be 
puffing  a  little,  because  of  his  being  rather  a  stout  boy, 
and  not  very  well  up  in  athletics. 

"  Because  we  want  to  gain  on  Elmer  when  we  have  the 
chance,"  replied  the  leader. 

' '  But  look  here,  Matty, ' '  said  Landy,  ' '  do  you  mean  to 
tell  me  Elmer  is  getting  along  about  as  fast  as  we  've  been 
doing,  when  he  has  a  blind  trail  to  follow,  and  we  have  a 
plain  one  ?  ' ' 

"  Looks  like  it,  don't  it?  "  exclaimed  Red. 

"  But  how  under  the  sun  does  he  do  it?  "  pursued  the 
doubting  greenhorn. 

"  Well,"  Matty  went  on,  "  Elmer  lived  in  Canada,  away 


PATHFINDER.  27 

up  where  our  blizzards  come  from.  He  used  to  ride  a 
wild  broncho,  throw  a  rope,  hunt  antelope  and  wolves,  and 
was  once  in  at  the  death  of  a  big  grizzly  bear  that  had  been 
playing  hob  with  their  cattle." 

"  Yes,  I've  heard  all  that,"  admitted  Landy. 

' '  So  you  see  he  learned  a  lot  about  following  a  trail  that 
would  never  be  seen  by  any  fellows  like  us  scouts.  He 
knows  a  dozen  signs  that  tell  him  the  facts.  And  when 
greenhorns  like  Ty,  Nat,  and  Toby  try  to  fool  him,  why,  he 
just  eats  the  trail  up." 

Matty,  as  he  finished  speaking,  came  to  a  sudden  pause. 

' '  We  might  as  well  take  a  breathing  spell, ' '  he  remarked, 
"  because  we're  getting  pretty  close  to  the  meeting  place 
anyhow.  Besides,  here's  a  chance  for  me  to  show  you 
how  Elmer  manages." 

The  others  crowded  around,  eager  to  see  for  themselves 
what  object  lesson  Matty  expected  to  lay  before  them. 

"  Now  I  want  you  to  notice  right  here,"  he  said,  point- 
ing to  the  ground,  "  that  the  footprints  of  the  two  boys 
ahead  suddenly  stop.  Here  are  the  plain  marks  left  pur- 
posely by  Elmer  and  Lil  Artha.  Do  you  notice  how  they 
run  alongside  this  fallen  tree?  " 

"  That's  a  fact,"  declared  George,  as  all  of  them  walked 
slowly  along. 

"  The  two  foxes  in  the  lead  thought  to  puzzle  the  hounds 
by  jumping  on  this  long  log,  and  running  its  entire  length," 
said  Matty,  with  a  grin,  "  but  they  had  their  trouble  for 
nothing.  Why,  it  was  such  an  old  trick  that  Elmer  guessed 
it  at  a  glance.  He  must  have  gained  quite  a  lot  on  'em 
here." 


28  PATHFINDER. 

George  and  Landy  exchanged  glances. 

"  Well,  there's  a  heap  more  in  this  game  than  I  ever 
thought  of,"  admitted  the  latter. 

"  Don't  see  how  he  does  it,"  remarked  George,  with  a 
doubting  shake  of  his  head. 

"  Oh,  the  more  you  study  up  on  this  thing,"  said  Red, 
"  the  better  you'll  like  it.  No  end  of  clever  stunts  that 
can  be  engineered.  But  see  here,  Matty,  didn't  you  say 
we  must  be  getting  near  the  place  where  we  expected  to 
round  up  both  foxes  and  hounds?  " 

"  Yes,  I'm  looking  to  hear  the  bugle  any  minute  right 
now,"  replied  the  leader. 

"  Where  was  it  fixed  for?  "  asked  Landy. 

' '  Oh,  I  thought  you  knew, ' '  Matty  replied,  as  they  once 
more  took  up  the  broad  trail,  at  the  point  beyond  the  end  of 
the  fallen  tree. 

"  I  heard  some  talk  about  an  old  mill,  but  didn't  pay 
much  attention  to  it,"  remarked  Landy,  carelessly. 

"  Then  you've  got  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf,  old  fellow, 
if  you  expect  to  ever  succeed  as  a  good  scout,"  Red  broke 
in  with. 

"  How's  that?  "  demanded  Landy. 

"  Because,"  replied  the  red-headed  lad,  himself  always 
wide-awake  and  on  the  alert,  ' '  a  scout  to  succeed  must  for- 
ever keep  his  wits  about  him  and  observe  things.  In  fact, 
Elmer  says  he  should  take  as  a  motto,  besides  the  words 
'  Be  Prepared  '  the  old  sign  you  see  at  railroad  crossings. ' ' 

"Stop!  look!  listen!"  exclaimed  Matty,  Larry,  and 
Chatz  in  chorus. 

"  I  suppose  I  am  somewhat  sleepy,"  grumbled  Landy, 


PATHFINDER.  29 

"  but  perhaps  some  day  I'll  surprise  you  wide-awake  Slim 
Jims  by  doing  something  real  smart.  But  tell  me  more 
about  this  mill." 

"  You  sure  must  have  heard  of  Munsey's  mill?  "  re- 
marked Matty. 

"  Oh,  I  believe  it  does  sound  kind  of  familiar,  but  then 
I  must  have  forgotten  all  I  ever  heard  about  it,"  Landy 
confessed. 

Eed  and  Matty  exchanged  glances,  and  shook  their  heads 
mournfully.  It  seemed  a  pretty  tough  proposition  to  ever 
expect  to  make  a  good  and  profitable  scout  out  of  such  poor 
material. 

"  Well,"  said  the  patrol  leader,  "  there  is  a  long  story 
connected  with  the  old  ramshackle  mill.  No  use  of  my  go- 
ing into  all  the  details.  It's  been  abandoned  a  good  many 
years  now.  People  have  tried  to  live  there  three  times 
since  old  Munsey  was  found  dead  there,  but  they  had  to 
give  it  up." 

"  Yes,  suh,"  Chatz  broke  in,  his  eyes  shining  bright- 
ly, for  this  was  a  subject  that  appealed  very  strongly  to 
him,  ' '  they  just  couldn  't  hold  out.  Got  cold  feet  after  go- 
ing through  the  experience  and  had  to  quit." 

"  But  why?  "  demanded  Landy. 

"  Because  they  declared  the  old  mill  was  haunted!  "  re- 
plied Matty. 

"  Yes,  suh,  it  was  haunted,"  echoed  Chatz. 

The  Southern  boy  had  always  confessed  to  a  streak  of 
superstition  in  his  make-up.  He  admitted  that  he  must 
have  imbibed  it  from  association  with  the  ignorant  little 
negro  lads  with  whom  he  had  been  accustomed  to  play  down 
on  the  plantation. 


30  PATHFINDER, 

He  had  even  admitted  once  to  carrying  in  his  pocket,  as  a 
charm,  the  left  hind  foot  of  a  rabbit,  which  animal  had  been 
killed  by  himself  in  a  graveyard  when  the  moon  was  full. 

The  boys  plagued  Chatz  so  much  that  he  had  by  degrees 
shown  signs  of  considering  most  of  his  former  beliefs  as 
felly. 

Still,  the  mere  mention  of  a  haunted  house  set  his  nerves 
to  quivering.  Chatz  might  be  a  timid  fellow  when  up 
against  anything  bordering  upon  the  ghostly,  but  on  all 
other  occasions  he  had  proven  himself  brave,  almost  to  the 
point  of  rashness. 

It  was  "  Doubting  George  "  who  burst  out  into  a  harsh 
laugh. 

"  A  haunted  house !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Ghosts!  Strange 
knockings!  Thrilling  whispers!  Ice-cold  hands!  Oh, 
my,  what  a  lark!  I've  always  wanted  to  get  up  against  a 
thing  like  that.  Don't  believe  in  'em  the  least  bit.  You 
could  talk  to  me  till  you  was  gray-headed,  and  I'd  just 
laugh.  There  never  was  such  things  as  ghosts,  never!  " 

Chatz  looked  at  him  rather  queerly. 

"  Oh,  well,  perhaps  you're  right,  George,"  he  said,  hold- 
ing himself  in  check,  "  but  I've  read  of  some  people  who 
had  pretty  rough  experiences." 

"  Rats!  They  fooled  themselves  every  time,"  declared 
the  boy  who  would  not  believe.  ' '  Bet  you  it  was  the  wind 
•whistling  through  a  knot  hole,  or  a  parcel  of  rats  squeaking 
and  fighting  between  the  walls.  Ghosts!  It  makes  me 
laugh." 

"  Same  here,"  declared  Red. 

"  Listen !  "  exclaimed  Larry  just  then,  making  them  all 


PATHFINDER.  31 

start.  Through  the  timber  ahead  of  them  came  the  sweet 
clear  notes  of  a  bugle. 

"  Told  you  so,  fellows,"  declared  Matty,  smiling; 
"  that's  Elmer.  He's  learning  to  use  the  bugle  nearly  aa 
well  as  Mark  himself. ' ' 

' '  Then  we  're  at  the  end  of  our  trail  following,  are  we  ?  " 
asked  Landy,  not  without  a  sigh  of  relief,  for  it  had  not 
been  as  easy  work  in  his  case  as  with  his  less  stout  com- 
rades. 

"  Well,  pretty  near,"  Matty  replied.  "  We've  got  to 
keep  it  up  till  we  come  in  sight  of  the  mill. ' ' 

' '  But  why  ?  ' '  asked  George,  who  seemed  to  want  to  know 
every  little  thing,  so  that  his  natural  tendency  to  object 
might  have  a  chance  to  show  itself. 

"  Oh,  well,  there  might  be  one  more  opening  for  a  mes- 
sage, and  our  main  business  is  to  translate  these,  you  know. ' ' 

"  Do  we  stay  long  at  the  old  mill?  "  asked  Chatz. 

Red  gave  him  a  quick,  suspicious  look. 

"  Aw,  I  reckon  I  know  what's  on  our  comrade's  mind," 
he  remarked,  with  a  wink. 

"  As  what?  "  demanded  Landy. 

"  Chatz  thinks  he'd  like  to  prowl  around  some,  and  see 
if  that  ghost  has  left  any  signs.  'Tain't  often  he's  had  a 
chance  to  meet  up  with  a  real  haunted  house,  eh,  Chatz?  " 
and  Red  gave  the  Southern  boy  a  sly  dig  in  the  ribs. 

' '  Never  had  that  pleasure  in  all  my  life,  fellows,  I  assure 
you,"  replied  the  Southern  boy,  with  ill-concealed  delight 
in  his  manner. 

' '  But  say,  no  respectable  ghost  was  ever  known  to  walk 
except  at  midnight,  and  we  don't  intend  camping  out  at 


32  PATHFINDER. 

the  old  mill,  do  we,  just  because  of  this  silly  talk?  "  asked 
George. 

"  Oh,  the  rest  of  us  don't,  but  Chatz  might  take  a  notion 
to  stay  over,"  laughed  Red.  "  When  a  fellow  is  set  on 
investigating  things  he  don't  understand,  and  which  were 
never  meant  for  us  to  understand,  there's  just  no  telling 
how  far  he  will  carry  the  game." 

Chatz  gave  him  a  lofty  look. 

"  Thank  you  for  the  compliment,  suh,"  he  said. 

They  continued  to  follow  the  "  spoor  "  of  the  two 
hounds,  left  so  plainly  for  their  guidance. 

It  was  not  long  before  another  stick  that  held  a  bark 
"  message  "  was  discovered.  And  Landy  felt  immensely 
elated  to  think  that  by  some  chance  he  had  been  the  first  to 
see  the  "  sign." 

' '  I  '11  surprise  you  fellows  yet,  just  mark  me, ' '  he  chuck- 
led, while  Matty  was  trying  to  read  the  queer  little  char- 
acters Elmer  had  marked  upon  the  brown  inner  side  of  the 
fresh  bark  torn  from  a  convenient  tree  close  by. 

"  "Wish  yon  would,  old  top,"  remarked  Red,  with  his 
customary  enthusiasm. 

"  You'll  get  to  like  all  these  things  more  and  more,  the 
farther  you  go,"  said  Larry. 

"  I  feel  that  way  already,"  was  Landy 's  quick  reply; 
"  only  I'm  that  clumsy  and  slow-witted  I  just  don't  see 
now  I'm  ever  going  to  keep  up  with  the  procession." 

"  Elmer  says  it's  only  keeping  everlastingly  at  it  that 
makes  a  good  scout,"  remarked  Chatz. 

Evidently,  from  the  way  these  boys  continually  quoted 
"  Elmer,"  the  assistant  scout  master  must  be  a  very  popu- 


PATHFINDER.  33 

lar  fellow  in  Hickory  Ridge,  and  those  who  have  made  a 
study  of  boy  nature  can  understand  what  rare  elements 
the  said  Elmer  must  have  in  his  composition  to  make  so 
many  friends  and  so  few  enemies. 

"  Come  around  and  see  what  I've  made  out  of  this  mes- 
sage, ' '  said  Matty  just  then. 

It  proved  to  be  the  concluding  communication,  and  in 
plain  picture  language  informed  those  for  whom  it  was 
left  that  the  two  foxes  had  stopped  here,  made  a  dense 
smoke  to  attract  their  missing  comrade,  and  when  joined 
by  him,  the  three  had  gone  on  together  to  the  rendezvous 
at  the  old  milL 

' '  Fine, ' '  cried  Landy,  when  he  heard  what  a  remarkable 
story  those  rude  drawings  told. 

"  Very  good — if  true,"  admitted  George. 

"  Well,  come  along  and  we'll  prove  it,"  laughed 
Matty ;  "  for  unless  I  miss  my  guess  the  mill  is  close  by." 

"  Sure,"  declared  Red.  "  I  can  hear  the  noise  of  water 
tumbling  down  some  rocks,  or  over  a  mill  dam." 

Five  minutes  later  and  Chatz  called  out : 

"  There  you  are,  suh !  " 

The  mill  could  be  seen  through  the  trees,  and  all  of  the 
boys  felt  the  greatest  eagerness  to  hurry  along  and  reach 
this  spot. 

It  happened  that  none  of  this  bunch  had  ever  set  eyes 
on  Munsey's  mill,  or  the  pond  just  above  it.  There  were 
plenty  of  places  nearer  Hickory  Ridge  for  fishing  purposes. 
And  besides,  the  dear  familiar  old  "  swimming  hole  "  was 
more  convenient  than  this  place,  nearly  seven  miles  away. 

"  I  see  Elmer  and  Lil  Artha,"  observed  Larry. 


34  PATHFINDER. 

"  Yes,  and  there's  another  fellow  just  beyond.  I  reckon 
it  must  be  Ty  Collins,"  said  Chatz. 

Elmer  waited  for  them  to  come  up.  He  and  his  com- 
panions were  standing  on  the  edge  of  the  dam  which  had 
long  ago  been  built  in  order  to  hold  up  the  water  and  form 
the  big  lonely  looking  pond  beyond. 

* '  Ugh,  what  a  spooky  looking  place  this  is !  "  exclaimed 
Larry,  as  soon  as  they  drew  up  where  they  could  look  out 
on  the  big  pond,  its  surface  in  places  partly  covered  with 
lily  plants,  and  the  long  trailing  branches  of  weeping  wil- 
lows dipping  down  to  the  water. 

' '  It  sure  is,  suh !  ' '  remarked  Chatz,  plainly  interested, 
and  not  a  little  excited. 

"  Here  we  are,  Elmer,"  called  out  Matty;  "  and  I  guess 
the  second  bunch  will  be  along  soon.  I  see  Ty  and  Toby, 
but  Where's  Nat  Scott?  " 

Elmer  gave  him  a  serious  look. 

"  That's  just  what  we're  wondering,"  he  said.  "  They 
all  reached  the  old  mill,  you  see,  but  Nat  seems  to  have 
disappeared  in  a  mighty  queer  way !  ' ' 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  STRANGE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  NAT. 

"  OH!  " 

Chatz  was  the  only  one  who  gave  utterance  to  a  sound 
after  Elmer  had  made  this  surprising,  as  well  as  alarming, 
admission. 


PATHFINDER.  33 

The  others  were  looking,  first  at  Elmer,  then  at  each  of 
his  three  companions  as  well ;  and  finally  out  upon  the  dis- 
mal pond  that  assumed  much  the  appearance  of  a  lake,  it 
stretched  so  far  up  the  valley,  almost  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
in  fact. 

Just  then  the  only  sound  they  heard  was  the  noisy  scold- 
ing of  the  water  as  it  went  over  the  spill  or  apron  of  the 
stout  dam  that  had  stood  all  these  long  years,  defying 
floods  and  the  ravages  of  time. 

And  somehow,  there  was  something  chilling  in  the  very 
lonesome  character  of  their  surroundings. 

Of  the  ten  scouts  present,  Chatz  seemed  to  be  the  only 
one  who  did  not  look  solemn.  There  was  an  eager  glow  in 
the  Southern  boy's  dark  eyes,  as  though  the  situation  ap- 
pealed to  that  element  of  superstition  in  his  nature. 

And  Elmer,  noting  this  expression,  that  was  almost  of 
glee,  knew  that  when  the  companions  of  Chatz  fondly  be- 
lieved they  had  cured  him  of  his  silly  faith  in  ghosts  and 
such  things,  they  had  made  a  mistake.  The  snake  had  only 
been  "  scotched,"  not  killed.  It  was  already  awakening 
again,  under  the  first  favorable  conditions. 

"  Say,  this  ain't  any  part  of  the  game,  is  it?  "  demanded 
Red. 

"  Yes,  you  don't  expect  us  to  guess  what's  become  of 
Nat,  and  then  find  him  grinning  at  us,  perhaps  astraddle  of 
a  limb  up  in  a  big  tree?  "  remarked  Larry. 

"  I  asked  these  fellows,"  said  Elmec,  seriously,  "  and 
both  Toby  and  Ty  gave  me  their  word  of  honor  that  no 
game  or  joke  was  set  up  between  them.  If  Nat  is  playing 

a  prank  then  he's  doing  it  on  his  own  account." 
BS— 27 


36  PATHFINDER. 

"  And  Nat  ain't  generally  the  fellow  to  think  of  play- 
ing  a  joke  on  his  chums,"  declared  Larry. 

"  Gee,  this  is  getting  wild  and  woolly  now!  "  remarked 
Landy;  "I'm  all  of  a  tremble.  What  if  the  poor  fellow 
fell  over  this  dam  here,  struck  his  head  on  a  rock,  and  lies 
right  now  at  the  bottom  of  that  black  pool  where  the  foam 
keeps  on  circling  around  and  around.  Ugh!  It  makes 
me  shiver,  fellows,  honest  and  truly." 

George,  as  usual,  scoffed  at  the  idea  of  anything  having 
happened  to  Nat  Scott. 

' '  He  '11  show  up  as  soon  as  he  feels  like  it,  make  sure  of 
that,"  he  declared. 

' '  Have  you  called  him  ?  ' '  asked  Matty. 

' '  Yes,  all  of  us  did, ' '  replied  Lil  Artha,  whose  customary 
rollicking  good  nature  seemed  subdued  in  a  measure  for 
once. 

"  And  he  didn't  answer?  "  demanded  Chatz. 

"  We  never  heard  a  word,  and  that's  a  fact,  boys,"  de- 
clared Toby  Jones,  uneasily. 

Then  they  all  looked  around  again,  their  eyes  naturally 
roving  in  the  quarter  where,  near  the  farther  end  of  the 
dam,  the  old  mill  stood. 

Its  day  was  long  since  past.  The  great  water  wheel  at 
the  end  of  the  sluice  had  partly  fallen  to  pieces  with  the 
passage  of  time  and  the  ravages  of  neglect.  What  was  left 
seemed  to  be  almost  entirely  covered  with  green  moss, 
among  which  the  clear  little  fingers  of  water  trickled. 

Suddenly  a  discordant  scream  rang  out.  It  was  so  fear- 
ful that  several  of  the  fellows  turned  pale,  and  all  of  them 
started  violently. 


PATHFINDER.  37 

"  There!  "  ejaculated  Chatz. 

His  manner  was  almost  triumphant;  just  as  though  he 
would  like  to  demand  whether  these  chums  of  his  could 
not  find  some  reason  to  believe  as  he  did,  after  such  a 
manifestation. 

"  Oh,  glory,  what  was  that!  "  quivered  Landy,  as  he 
filutched  the  arm  of  Elmer  Chenowith. 

"  But  it  didn't  come  from  the  mill,"  declared  Larry. 
"  Sounded  to  me  like  it  was  out  there  on  the  pond.'* 

"  Good  for  you,  Larry,"  remarked  Elmer. 

"  Then  I  was  right?  "  asked  the  other. 

"  You  certainly  were,  and  if  the  whole  of  you  turn  your 
eyes  aways  up  yonder,  perhaps  you'll  notice  a  big  black- 
and-white  bird  come  to  the  surface.  It  dived  just  after 
scolding  us  for  disturbing  its  fishing  excursion." 

Following  the  direction  indicated  by  Elmer's  extended 
finger  the  scouts  all  watched  eagerly. 

"  I  see  something  moving  just  behind  that  bunch  of  lily 
pads,"  exclaimed  one  with  keen  vision. 

"  There  it  swims  out  now,  and  it's  a  big  water  bird,  too. 
Looks  like  a  goose  to  me,"  Landy  remarked,  earnestly. 

"  That's  a  loon,  fellows!  "  exclaimed  Red. 

"  Is  it,  Elmer?  "  they  demanded  in  a  breath. 

"  Just  what  it  is,  and  nothing  else,"  replied  the  acting 
scout  master.  "  They  are  very  common  up  in  the  Great 
Northwest.  And  once  you've  heard  their  wild  laugh  you'll 
never  forget  it." 

"  Huh,  sounds  just  like  the  shout  of  a  crazy  man  to  me," 
ventured  Lil  Artha. 

"  Everybody   says   that,"   Elmer   declared.    "  And    I 


38  PATHFINDER. 

never  knew  a  single  fellow  who  liked  to  hear  a  loon  call. 
Some  say  it's  a  sign  of  ill  luck  to  be  scolded  by  a  loon." 

"  111  luck!  "  echoed  Chatz,  once  more  looking  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  ramshackle  old  mill. 

"  But  see  here,"  remarked  Matty,  "  tell  us  about  Nat, 
won't  you?  "When  was  his  queer  disappearance  first 
noticed,  Elmer?  " 

"  Well,  when  Lil  Artha  and  myself  arrived  here  we  found 
Toby  and  Ty  throwing  stones  out  in  the  pond,  scaring  the 
little  red-marked  turtles  that  were  sitting  by  dozens  on 
every  old  log  and  rock,  and  great  big  bullfrogs  as  well. ' ' 

"  Never  saw  so  many  whopping  big  frogs  in  all  my  life," 
declared  Ty. 

"You  see,"  explained  Toby,  "  we  missed  Nat,  but 
thought  he  had  just  wandered  off  to  look  around.  Ty  and 
me,  why,  we  felt  too  tired  to  explore  things  till  the  rest 
came  along." 

"  Oh,  but  you  could  amuse  yourselves  throwing  things 
into  the  water,  eh?  "  Matty  remarked,  with  such  a  vein 
of  sarcasm  in  his  voice  that  Toby  immediately  aroused  to 
defend  himself. 

"  'Twa'n't  that  at  all,  Matty  Eggleston;  prove  it  by 
Ty  here  if  either  of  us  was  afraid  to  go  inside  your  old 
haunted  mill,  was  we,  Ty ?  "he  exclaimed,  with  a  fine  show 
of  righteous  indignation. 

"  Course  we  wasn't,"  Ty  hastened  to  declare,  with  a  de- 
cided shake  of  his  tousled  head.  "  "We  walked  along  the 
shore  till  we  came  to  a  nice  shady  place,  and  then  squatted 
down,  meanin'  to  wait  till  Elmer  showed  up.  Then  I 
popped  a  rock  at  a  sassy  little  turkle,  and  pretty  soon  both 
of  us  were  letting  fly." 


PATHFINDER.  39 

"  "When  did  you  miss  Nat,  and  where  was  he  the  last  you 
saw  him?  "  asked  Matty,  who  was  expected  some  day  to 
become  a  lawyer. 

"  Oh!  "  answered  Toby,  "he  said  he'd  hang  around 
the  dam  here  and  look  into  things.  You  know  Nat  always 
did  want  to  pry  into  everything  he  saw." 

"  What  then?  "  Matty  went  on  asking. 

"  "Why,  we  saw  Elmer  and  Lil  Artha  coming,  and  went 
to  meet  'em,  that's  all,"  replied  Ty. 

*'  Have  any  of  you  been  inside  the  mill?  " 

"  Why,  no,"  Toby  spoke  up.  "  Elmer  and  Lil  Artha 
eat  down  to  rest,  and  you  see  we  expected  Nat  to  pop  out 
on  us  any  minute,  so  we  just  didn't  say  anything  about  it 
till  they  asked." 

"  And  that  was  just  about  the  time  we  first  heard  your 
voices  close  by,"  said  Elmer,  "  so  we  made  up  our  minds 
to  wait  till  you  joined  us,  when  we  could  scatter  and 
Search." 

"  Search!  "  echoed  Larry.  "  Good  gracious!  do  you 
think  Nat  can  be  lost?  " 

"  It  doesn't  seem  possible,"  admitted  Elmer,  "but  I 
blew  the  bugle,  and  sounded  the  assembly.  If  Nat  heard 
that  he  is  scout  enough  to  know  it  was  a  command  for  him 
to  come  in — if  he  could." 

"  Whew!  this  is  something  we  didn't  expect  to  run  up 
against — a  mystery  right  in  the  start,"  remarked  Matty, 
mopping  his  face  with  his  big  bandana  handkerchief,  which 
he  wore  about  his  neck,  cowboy  fashion,  with  the  knot  be- 
hind. 

"  You  never  can  tell,  suh!  "  said  Chatz,  in  a  solemn 


±0  PATHFINDER. 

manner;  and  somehow  none  of  the  boys  seemed  quite  as 
ready  to  scoff  at  the  Southerner's  superstitious  belief,  as 
usual. 

"  But  hadn't  we  better  be  looking  around?  "  remarked 
Matty.  "  Nat  may  have  gone  into  the  old  mill,  bent  on 
investigating,  and  some  accident  have  happened  to  him. ' ' 

"  As  what?  "  queried  George,  cautiously. 

"  Oh,  well,  perhaps  he  tripped  and  fell,  striking  his 
head  as  he  went  down.  Then  again,  a  rotten  plank  might 
have  given  way  tinder  him,  and  let  him  get  an  ugly  fall," 
Matty  replied. 

"  That  sounds  reasonable  enough,"  said  Elmer,  "  and 
now  I  want  some  of  you  to  scatter  around  and  see  if  you 
can  discover  any  trace  of  our  missing  comrade.  Red,  you 
get  a  long  pole  and  poke  down  in  that  deep  pool,  though  I 
feel  pretty  sure  you  won 't  find  any  sign  of  him  there,  be- 
cause there  isn't  a  mark  of  blood  on  the  rocks,  as  there 
would  be  if  he  had  fallen  from  up  here  on  the  dam." 

The  boys  looked  aghast. 

Up  to  this  point  perhaps  Landy  and  several  others  may 
have  indulged  in  a  hope  that  after  all  perhaps  this  might 
only  be  a  little  finish  to  the  remarkable  game  of  fox  and 
hounds  which  they  had  been  playing. 

Indeed,  Red  and  Larry  had  once  or  twice  even  exchanged 
sly  winks.  They  actually  suspected  that  Elmer  had  secretly 
ordered  Nat  to  conceal  himself,  up  among  the  branches  of 
a  tree,  perhaps,  so  as  to  have  the  whole  party  guessing, 
and  running  around  like  a  pack  of  dogs  off  the  scent. 

Now  the  last  vague  hope  in  this  particular  seemed  shat- 
tered by  Elmer's  thrilling  suggestion. 


PATHFINDER.  41 

And  more  than  Red 's  horrified  eyes  roved  in  the  direction 
of  the  ugly  black  pool,  across  the  surface  of  which  the 
foamy  white  bubbles  kept  circling  constantly,  as  the  sur- 
plus water  ran  over  the  dam. 

' '  Where  will  the  rest  of  us  look,  Elmer  ?  ' '  asked  Matty, 
breaking  the  awful  silence  that  had  gripped  them  after 
hearing  the  scout  master's  suggestion. 

"  Any  old  place,"  replied  Elmer;  "  only  I  guess  you 
needn't  go  far  along  that  farther  shore,  because  Toby  and 
Ty  were  there  where  you  see  that  big  oak  tree." 

"  They  couldn't  see  the  dam  from  there,  could  they?  " 
asked  Red,  quickly. 

*'  No,  that's  true,"  answered  Toby. 

"  And  so  they  wouldn't  know  whether  anybody  knocked 
poor  Nat  over  here;  or  if  he  went  across  to  the  old  mill/' 
Red  continued. 

' '  Right  you  are,  Red, ' '  replied  Ty ;  ' '  but  neither  did  we 
hear  any  shout.  An  old  blue  jay  was  screechin'  in  the  woods 
near  us.  Yep,  a  feller  might  'a'  called  out  and  we  not  no- 
ticed it." 

"  I»want  two  of  you  to  go  with  me  to  the  mill,"  said 
Elmer. 

**  Count  me  for  one!  "  cried  some  one,  instantly;  and 
of  course  that  was  the  eager  Chatz,  who  would  have  started 
a  new  rebellion  had  he  been  debarred  that  privilege. 

"  And  I'm  tke  second  victim,"  declared  Lil  Artha,  with 
a  grin,  but  at  the  same  time  looking  very  determined. 

"  All  right,"  said  Elmer;  "  fall  in  behind  me,  and  we'll 
see  what  the  inside  of  the  mill  looks  like." 


42  PATHFINDER. 

CHAPTER   IV, 

THE   SEARCH   FOB  A   CLEW. 

FOLLOWING  the  lead  of  Elmer,  the  tall  lanky  scout  and 
\&.Q  wiry  Southern  boy  quickly  found  themselves  at  the 
other  end  of  the  mill  dam. 

Lil  Artha  had  cast  his  eyes  about  him  as  he  cautiously 
made  his  way  along.  He  seemed  to  be  figuring  on  what 
chance  there  might  be  for  an  active  chap  like  Nat  Scott 
slipping  on  one  of  the  wet  and  moss-covered  stones,  to  go 
tumbling  down  toward  that  suspicious  black  pool. 

Not  so  Chatz  Maxfield. 

Apparently  he  had  made  up  his  mind  from  the  start 
that  this  strange  vanishing  of  their  comrade  must  have 
some  connection  with  the  mystery  of  the  old  mill. 

Did  they  not  admit  that  three  separate  times  people  had 
tried  to  live  there  in  the  dwelling  that  was  part  and  parcel 
of  the  mill;  and  on  every  occasion  they  had  given  it  up 
as  a  bad  job  ? 

Why? 

Well,  it  seemed  to  be  understood  that  none  of  them  could 
stand  the  sights  and  sounds  which  had  come  to  them  while 
under  that  roof. 

People  might  scoff  at  such  things  all  they  had  a  mind  to, 
but  surely  it  seemed  as  if  there  must  be  something  in  it. 

At  any  rate,  everyone  of  those  three  families  believed 
the  mill  house  haunted.  And  for  many  years  now,  no  one 
had  had  the  nerve  to  occupy  the  place 


PATHFINDER.  43 

And  yet  it  had  once  been  a  paying  venture,  for  the  main 
road  was  only  a  few  hundred  yards  away  from  this  lonely, 
forbidding-looking  pond,  where  the  frogs  grew  so  large 
and  the  red-marked  "  turkles,"  as  Ty  Collins  called  them, 
were  so  saucy. 

"Careful  here!"  warned  Elmer,  as  they  arrived  at 
the  runway,  where  in  times  past  the  water  was  turned  on 
when  the  mill  was  to  be  operated. 

The  boards  were  rotting  and  slimy,  and  if  one  made  a 
slip  he  might  get  a  wet  jacket  in  the  sluice,  where  there 
was  more  or  less  running  water. 

Elmer  held  up  a  hand  to  hold  his  comrades  back.  He 
seemed  to  be  down  on  his  hands  and  knees,  as  though  ex- 
amining something  that  had  just  caught  his  attention, 

"  What  is  it?  "  asked  Lil  Artha. 

"  He  came  this  way,  all  right,  boys." 

"  Do  you  mean  Nat?  "  questioned  Chatz. 

"  Why,  of  course,"  replied  the  leader. 

"  How  do  you  know?  "  continued  Chatz. 

"I've  been  following  Nat's  trail  for  miles,"  answered 
Elmer,  "and  sure  I  ought  to  know  what  his  footprint 
looks  like.  Here  it  is  on  this  clay  just  beside  the  sluice. 
Wait  till  I  cross  and  see  if  he  made  the  other  side  all 
right." 

"  He  must,  because  he  ain't  in  the  sluiceway,"  remarked 
the  tall  bey. 

A  minute  later  and  Elmer,  who  had  carefully  crossed 
over,  testing  each  board  before  trusting  his  weight  on  it, 
called  out: 

"  The  maiks  are  here,  all  right,  fellows.  Nat  did  start 
to  look  into  the  old  mill  Come  over,  but  be  careful,  Go 


*4  PATHFINDER. 

flow,  Chatz,"  he  warned  again,  as  the  impetuous  Southern 
hoy  slipped,  and  might  have  landed  in  the  slimy  sluice 
only  that  Lil  Artha  threw  out  a  hand  and  clutched  him. 

They  were  now  almost  in  the  shadow  of  the  deserted 
mill.  It  looked  gloomy  and  forbidding  to  the  eyes  of  at 
least  Elmer  and  the  tall  lad,  though  Chatz  may  have  con- 
sidered it  an  object  well  worth  coming  a  long  distance  to 
see. 

"  Wow!  I  must  get  some  pictures  of  this  same  old  ruin 
while  we're  up  here,"  said  Lil  Artha,  who  carried  a  little 
pocket  camera  along,  and  was  a  very  clever  artist  indeed. 

"  A  fine  idea,"  remarked  Elmer;  "  but  there  are  a  lot 
of  good  people  in  Hickory  Ridge  who  would  think  a  picture 
of  Munsey's  mill  very  tame  and  incomplete  without  the 
ghost  showing  in  it." 

"  Ah!  "  said  Chatz,  his  face  aglow. 

"  Oh,  well,"  Lil  Artha  went  on,  "  perhaps  now  I  might 
be  lucky  enough  to  tempt  that  same  ghost  to  pose  for  me. 
Anyhow  I  mean  to  ask  him,  if  so  be  we  happen  to  run  across 
his  trail." 

He  looked  at  Chatz,  and  then  winked  one  eye  humorously 
at  Elmer.  But  the  Southern  boy  did  not  deign  to  take  any 
notice. 

"  Come,  let's  go  in,  fellows,"  he  said,  impatiently. 

With  that  th»  three  started  for  the  other  side  of  the  mill, 
where  an  entrance  could  most  likely  be  much  more  easily 
effected. 

Elmer  continued  to  watch  the  ground,  and  from  the  sat- 
isfied look  on  his  face  Lil  Artha  felt  sure  the  scout  master 
must  be  discovering  further  traces  of  the  missing  boy. 


PATHFINDER.  45 

Perhaps,  after  all,  they  would  find  Nat  hiding  inside  the 
mill  or  the  dwelling  alongside.  Perhaps  he  had  been  so 
busy  investigating  that  he  had  not  noticed  their  shouts, 
or  the  bugle  call,  for  the  falling  water  made  quite  a  little 
noise. 

Or,  on  the  other  hand,  possibly  Nat  may  have  been  seized 
with  a  sudden  desire  to  tease  his  comrades  in  return  for 
many  a  practical  joke  of  which  he  had  been  the  victim. 

But  one  of  the  three  was  quite  firm  in  his  belief  that 
neither  of  these  explanations  would  turn  out  to  be  the  true 
one. 

Of  course  this  was  Chatz  Maxfield,  through  whose  mind 
had  run  the  conviction  that  poor  Nat  Scott  must  have  paid 
dearly  for  his  temerity  in  invading  the  haunted  mill. 

Yes,  Chatz  feared  that  the  ghost  must  have  got  Nat, 
though  he  was  afraid  to  openly  proclaim  his  belief.  Fear 
of  ridicule  was  a  weakness  of  Chatz.  It  often  causes  boys 
to  hide  their  real  feelings,  and  even  appear  to  be  much 
bolder  than  they  naturally  are. 

Once  around  the  end  of  the  mill  and  they  saw  the  dwell- 
ing attached  to  it. 

Here,  too,  was  the  old  road,  now  overgrown  with  weeds 
and  almost  hidden  from  view.  And  yet,  twenty  years  ago, 
in  Miller  Munsey's  time,  no  doubt  farmers  daily  drove 
up  here  with  sacks  of  corn,  wheat,  or  rye,  to  have  the  grain 
delivered  to  them  again  in  the  shape  of  flour. 

"  Shall  we  try  to  go  in  by  way  of  the  house  door?  " 
asked  Lil  Artha. 

"  No,"  replied  Elmer,  "  he  went  in  through  that  open- 
ing where  some  boards  are  off  the  side  of  the  mill.  Perhaps 
we'd  better  do  the  same." 


46  PATHFINDER. 

"  A  good  idea,"  remarked  Chatz,  with  the  air  of  one 
who  could  not  get  inside  the  walls  of  the  mill  too  speed- 
ily to  please  him. 

"  Just  as  you  say,  Elmer,"  the  lanky  scout  observed; 
for  having  been  in  the  company  of  the  other  when  the  lat- 
ter was  acting  as  pathfinder  to  the  expedition,  Lil  Artha 
was  more  than  ever  filled  with  admiration  for  his  wonder- 
ful talents  in  discovering  things  supposed  to  be  lost. 

So  Elmer  without  further  hesitation  ducked  through 
the  opening,  with  his  two  allies  keeping  close  to  his  heels. 

At  any  rate  it  was  somewhat  more  restful  inside  the  mill. 

Those  walls,  even  if  now  going  rapidly  into  a  condition 
of  decay,  shut  out  some  of  the  noise  caused  by  the  falling 
water. 

Lil  Artha  and  Chatz  both  looked  about  them  eagerly, 
even  anxiously,  as  soon  as  they  found  themselves  within 
those  walls  which  had  once  resounded  to  the  clatter  of  the 
grinding. 

Their  motives,  however,  were  probably  as  far  apart  as 
the  two  poles;  while  the  long-legged  scout  hoped,  yet 
dreaded,  to  see  the  figure  of  Nat  Scott  lying  somewhere 
about,  Chatz,  on  the  other  hand,  was  anticipating  discov- 
ering some  token  of  ghostly  visitors. 

Nothing  rewarded  either  of  them,  however.  The  interior 
of  the  mill  was  of  course  in  a  generally  dilapidated  con- 
dition. What  remnants  of  the  crushing  and  milling  ma- 
chinery remained  were  rusty  and  broken,  as  though  tramps 
may  have  made  the  place  a  refuge,  and  tried  to  destroy 
what  they  could  not  carry  away  to  sell. 

The  boards  creaked  dismally  under  their  tread.     More 


PATHFINDER.  47 

than  that,  they  were  loose  in  places,  and  Lil  Artha,  stepping 
upon  the  end  of  one,  might  have  vanished  through  a  gap 
in  the  floor  only  that  his  agility  saved  him. 

"  "Wow,  would  you  see  that,  now,  Elmer!  "  he  exclaimed, 
his  voice  sounding  strange  amidst  such  singular  surround- 
ings. 

"  You  made  a  neat  side  step,  old  fellow,"  said  the  one 
addressed.  "  Some  of  us,  more  clumsy,  would  have  slid 
down  into  the  cellar." 

"  Say,  now,  I  wonder — "  began  Lil  Artha,  and  then 
stopped  to  stare  at  the  treacherous  plank  that  formed  such 
a  trap. 

"  You're  wondering  whether  poor  old  Nat  could  have 
taken  that  tumble?  "  suggested  Elmer. 

' '  That 's  what  I  was ;  what  do  you  think  ?  ' '  asked  the  tall 
scout. 

"  Here,  lay  hold  and  we'll  soon  find  out,"  remarked 
Elmer,  bending  over  the  loose  plank. 

It  required  considerable  tugging  to  get  it  out  of  the  bed 
it  had  occupied  so  long,  even  if  it  was  fastened  by  no 
nails. 

Both  of  them  lay  down  and  thrust  their  faces  into  the 
gap. 

"  Looks  pretty  dark  down  there,  don't  it?  "  asked  Lil 
Artha,  who  was  secretly  shivering  with  the  anticipation  of 
making  a  grewsome  discovery,  but  who  would  not  have  his 
comrades  know  the  true  condition  of  his  nerves  for  a  good 
deal. 

"  It  sure  does  that,"  was  Elmer's  reply. 

"  I  can  just  make  out  something  or  other  lying  down 


48  PATHFINDER. 

there ;  it  might  be  an  old  log,  you  know,  and  again,  p  'raps  it 
ain't." 

Lil  Artha  did  not  venture  to  say  plainly  that  he  more 
than  half  feared  lest  the  object  he  could  see  might  turn  out 
to  be  poor  Nat  Scott.  But  that  was  a  fact. 

"  Well,  let's  find  out  for  sure." 

Elmer,  while  speaking,  was  taking  something  from  his 
pocket.  It  proved  to  be  an  old  newspaper,  from  which 
he  tore  a  sheet,  crumpling  it  up  into  a  ball. 

"  I  generally  carry  a  newspaper  along  when  I  go  into 
the  woods,"  he  said  in  explanation.  "  And  it's  wonderful 
what  a  help  it  sometimes  turns  out  to  be  in  case  you  want 
to  start  a  quick  fire.  Now  for  a  match. ' ' 

''I'm  sorry  now,"  remarked  Lil  Artha. 

"  About  what?  "  asked  the  scout  leader. 

"  That  I  didn't  think  to  fetch  it  along — that  new  elec- 
tric hand  torch  my  father  gave  me  on  my  birthday,  you 
remember,  Elmer?  " 

"  Oh,"  laughed  Elmer,  "  well,  who'd  ever  think  we'd 
have  any  need  of  a  torch  on  this  hike!  Why,  it  was  an 
altogether  daylight  affair,  and  we  expected  to  be  back 
home  long  before  supper  time.  I  even  promised  Mark  to 
practice  battery  work  some  this  afternoon.  There,  now 
watch  when  it  drops.  I  hope  there's  nothing  down  there 
to  take  fire." 

"  If  the  old  trap  did  go  up  in  smoke  I  guess  nobody 
would  care  much,"  muttered  Lil  Artha,  as  he  pressed  his 
face  still  further  into  the  opening,  after  Elmer  released 
his  fire  ball. 

The  burning  paper  seemed  to   alight  upon  the   damp 


PATHFINDER.  49 

earthen  floor  of  the  cellar.  Immediately  both  boys  tried  to 
secure  a  mental  photograph  of  all  there  was  below  them. 

"  It's  only  a  log!  "  cried  Lil  Artha,  in  a  relieved  tone 
of  voice,  and  at  the  same  time  betraying  more  or  less  dis- 
appointment, for  perhaps  he  had  made  up  his  mind  that 
they  were  to  be  treated  to  some  species  of  horror. 

"  You're  right,"  added  Elmer,  "  that's  what  is  it — an 
old  log  that  has  lain  there,  goodness  only  knows  how  long. 
Nat  doesn't  seem  to  have  slipped  down  into  the  cellar,  then, 
does  he?  " 

"  Not  that  you  could  notice,"  replied  Lil  Artha,  and  then 
he  added:  "  but  Elmer,  didn't  you  notice  something  jump 
when  that  paper  first  went  down  ?  ' ' 

"  Well,  yes,  I  did,  for  a  fact,  Arthur." 

"  Any  idea  what  it  could  be?  "  persisted  the  other, 

"  I  hope  you're  not  thinking  of  that  ghost  we've  heard 
so  much  about  ?  ' '  said  Elmer. 

"  Now,  that's  hardly  fair,  Elmer;  you  know  I  don't  take 
any  stock  in  fairy  tales  or  hobgoblin  yarns.  But  something 
sure  moved." 

"  A  big  rat  I  guess,  perhaps  a  muskrat  from  the  pond 
above.  They  sometimes  find  a  burrow  leads  them  to  some 
old,  unused  cellar." 

"  But  look  over  there,  and  you'll  see  a  lot  of  white  bones, 
Elmer,"  pursued  Lil  Artha. 

"  That's  a  fact.  Some  animal  must  have  fallen  in  here, 
starved  to  death,  and  been  eaten  up  by  the  rats." 

"  But,  Elmer,  are  you  sure  they  are  animal  bones?  " 

"  I  noticed  the  skull,  and  I  think  it  must  have  been  ft 
large  dog,"  replied  Elmer. 


BO  PATHFINDER. 

Then  he  and  the  tall  scout  scrambled  hastily  to  their 
feet,  for  Chatz  had  suddenly  given  utterance  to  an  ex- 
clamation that  seemed  to  contain  much  of  both  surprise 
and  mystification. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE  TEAIL   GROWS   WARMER. 

"  SAY,  just  look  up  there,  fellows !  " 

Chatz  pointed  a  quivering  finger  upward  as  he  gave  ut- 
terance to  these  words. 

Of  course  both  Elmer  and  the  lengthy  scout  followed  his 
directions,  and  turned  an  inquiring  gaze  toward  the  dimly 
seen  rafters  of  the  old  deserted  mill. 

"  Gee  whittaker!  what  in  the  dickens  are  they?  "  ex- 
claimed Lil  Artha,  as  his  startled  eyes  rested  on  what 
seemed  to  be  countless  numbers  of  queer  little  bunches  of 
dusky  gray  or  brown  hair. 

They  looked  for  all  the  world  like  some  farmer's  wife's 
winter  collection  of  herbs,  tied  up  in  small  packages,  and 
fastened  in  regular  order  along  the  different  beams. 

"  Well,  I  declare,"  laughed  Elmer. 

"  You  know  what  they  are,  Elmer;  let  us  in  on  it,  won't 
you?'"  demanded  Chatz. 

"  Nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  ghost,  but  all  the 
same^  often  found  in  haunted  houses,  church  belfries,  and 
old  towers.  fc.'ee  here." 

He  stooped  and  picked  up  quite  a  good-sized  stone  that 
happened  to  be  lying  on  the  floor. 


PATHFINDER.  51 

Elmer  was  a  pitcher  on  the  Hickory  Ridge  baseball  nine, 
and  could  hurl  a  pretty  swift  ball. 

When  he  shot  that  stone  upward  it  went  like  a  young 
cyclone,  struck  the  rafters  with  a  loud  bang,  clattered 
around  from  one  beam  to  another,  and  finally  fell  back  to 
the  floor  with  a  thud. 

This  latter  sound  was  certainly  not  heard  by  any  one 
of  the  three  scouts,  for  it  was  utterly  drowned  in  a  tre- 
mendous rush  as  of  sturdy  wings,  and  several  openings 
above  were  filled  with  some  rapidly  flying  objects. 

"  Wow,  did  you  ever  see  the  like  of  that  now!  "  cried 
Lil  Artha. 

"  What  were  they,  Elmer  ?  "  asked  Chatz,  who  had  really; 
been  too  startled  to  think  fairly. 

"  Bats!  "  replied  the  scout  leader,  promptly. 

"  I  supposed  as  much,"  declared  Chatz,  "  and  as  you 
remarked  just  now,  they  always  seem  to  like  a  building 
said  to  be  haunted." 

"Well,"  remarked  the  tall  boy,  "sometimes  I've  had 
the  fellows  hint  to  me  that  I  had  bats  in  my  belfry;  but 
sure  not  that  many.  Why,  I  reckon  there  must  have  been, 
well-nigh  a  thousand  in  that  gay  bunch,  Elmer. ' ' 

"  I  guess  there  were,  more  or  less,"  replied  the  other. 

"  And  now  what?  "  asked  Chatz. 

"  Let's  look  further  here  before  we  go  into  the  house 
itself,"  the  scout  master  made  reply. 

So  they  went  from  one  end  of  the  deserted  mill  to  the 
other,  peering  into  every  place  where  it  seemed  there  might 
be  the  slightest  hope  of  discovering  their  missing  comrade. 

Elmer  even  entered  a  small  room  off  the  main  floor,  and 
B  s— 28 


52  PATHFINDER. 

which  had  possibly  been  used  as  an  office  when  the  grist- 
mill was  in  business. 

"  Nothing  doing,  Elmer?  "  announced  Lil  Artha,  as  the 
other  came  out  again. 

Elmer  shook  his  head  in  the  negative. 

"  Don't  seem  to  be  around  here  at  all,"  he  said. 

"  Well,  let's  try  the  house,"  suggested  Chatz;  and  it 
was  easily  seen  from  his  manner  that  he  was  eager  to  make 
the  change. 

After  one  more  careful  glance  around,  as  if  to  make  ab- 
solutely positive  that  nothing  had  been  neglected,  the  scout 
leader  nodded  his  head. 

"  Come  on,  then,  fellows,"  he  said. 

So  the  others  once  more  fell  in  his  wake,  like  true 
scouts  who  knew  their  little  lesson  full  well,  and  were  ready 
to  follow  their  leader  wherever  he  might  choose  to  go. 

Elmer  had  previously  noticed  a  door  leading,  as  he  be- 
lieved, from  the  main  mill  into  the  cottage  that  had  once 
been  the  miller's  home. 

Toward  this  he  now  pushed.  He  wondered  if  he  would 
find  the  door  fastened  in  any  way.  One  touch  told  him  it 
was  not. 

And  so,  without  hesitation,  Elmer  strode  across  the 
threshold  into  what  had  once  been  the  happy  home  of  a 
contented  miller,  until  trouble  came,  and  tragedy  ended 
it  all. 

Like  the  mill  itself  the  house  was  fast  falling  into  a  state 
of  decay. 

It  was  only  a  cottage  of  some  four  rooms,  all  on  the  one 
floor.  The  boys  passed  from  one  apartment  to  another 


PATHFINDER.  53 

until  presently  they  had  been  over  all  the  territory  com- 
prised within  those  four  walls,  so  far  as  they  could  see. 

Both  Chatz  and  Lil  Artha  uttered  exclamations  that 
breathed  their  disappointment. 

Because  each  of  them  had  failed  to  discover  that  upon 
which  he  had  set  his  mind  he  failed  to  see  anything  else. 

Not  so  Elmer,  who  carried  out  the  principle  which  he 
was  forever  holding  up  before  the  others  as  a  ca/dinal  vir- 
tue which  should  govern  a  true  scout  always. 

He  noted  a  number  of  things  that  the  other  two  might 
have  passed  by,  simply  because  they  refused  to  let  their 
minds  work  outside  of  a  certain  groove. 

A  frown  came  upon  Elmer's  face  also,  as  though  he  did 
not  wholly  like  the  looks  of  things. 

"  Well,  he  ain't  here,  that's  sure,"  remarked  Lil  Artha, 
shrugging  his  shoulders  in  disgust. 

"  He  certainly  isn't,"  muttered  Chatz,  who,  however,  was 
thinking  of  an  entirely  different  object  than  the  one  the 
tall  boy  referred  to. 

"  Suppose  we  give  him  a  shout,  and  see  if  there's  any 
result  ?  ' '  suggested  Lil  Artha. 

"  Do  so,  if  you  like,"  replied  Elmer,  in  a  tone  that  did 
not  seem  to  promise  much  faith  in  the  outcome  of  this  plan. 

So  the  tall  boy  raised  his  voice  and  shouted  in  his  loud- 
est key.  A  few  stray  bats  that  had  taken  up  lodgings  in 
various  dark  corners  of  the  four  rooms  went  flapping 
through  a  broken  sash.  But  beyond  that  nothing  came  to 
pass. 

"  This  sure  beats  the  Dutch,"  remarked  Lil  Artka,  using 
his  bandana  again  to  wipe  off  the  perspiration  that  had 
gathered  in  beads  upon  his  forekead. 


54  PATHFINDER. 

Elmer  was  looking  around  again. 

"  Wonder  if  there  can  be  a  cellar  under  here?  "  he  re- 
marked, presently. 

"  I  should  suy  yes,"  replied  the  tall  boy. 

"  Then  there  ought  to  be  a  trapdoor  in  the  floor  some- 
where about.  Look  around  and  see  if  you  can  find  it,  boys. ' ' 
Elmer  continued,  himself  stepping  into  the  kitchen. 

Chatz  aud  the  tall  boy  had  hardly  gotten  well  started 
in  their  search  than  they  heard  Elmer  calling. 

"He's  found  it,  sure!  "  observed  the  Southern  lad. 

"  The  luckiest  chap  eT  er,  take  that  from  me,"  declared 
Lil  Artha,  and  then  adding  hastily:  "  but  then,  he  always 
deserves  his  luck,  because  he  works  for  it." 

Although  he  did  not  exactly  mean  to  do  so,  the  one 
who  said  that  expressed  one  of  the  greatest  truths  known. 
Deserve  good  luck,  and  it  will  many  times  knock  at  your 
door.  Do  things  worth  while,  and  obtain  pleasing  re- 
sults. 

Of  course  they  hastened  into  the  kitchen.  Here  they 
found  Elmer  bending  over  and  examining  the  floor. 

"  It's  a  trapdoor,  all  right,"  declared  Lil  Artha,  as  he 
noted  the  dimensions  of  the  cracks  that  formed  an  almost 
perfect  square. 

"  But  how  to  get  it  up's  the  question,"  said  Elmer;  "  for 
there  seems  to  be  no  ring  in  sight.  All  the  same,  boys,  I 
reckon  this  same  trap  has  been  used  more  than  a  few  times 
lately,  from  the  looks  of  things." 

"Whew!  do  you  really  mean  it,  Elmer?"  remarked 
Chatz,  deeply  interested. 

"  Why,  you  can  see  for  yourself  right  here  that  some 


PATHFINDER.  55 

sort  of  tool  has  been  used  to  pry  tip  the  thing,"  Elmer 
went  on. 

"  Say,  I  had  a  glimpse  of  an  old  broken  kitchen  knife 
lying  over  there  by  the  sink.  "Wonder  if  that  would  do 
the  trick?  Shall  I  get  it?  "  remarked  Lil  Artha, 

"  If  you  will,"  replied  Elmer. 

The  article  in  question  was  speedily  placed  in  the  hand* 
<yf  the  scout  master. 

"*  Just  the  very  thing  to  lift  this  trap  with,"  he  declared, 
oo  he  started  to  insert  the  stout  remnant  of  the  blade  in  the 
crac'v. 

*  Reckon  it's  been  used  to  do  the  trick  many  a  time," 
advanced  Chatz. 

"  I  wouldn't  wonder,"  Elmer  added. 

Using  the  broken  blade  as  a  lever  he  soon  pried  the  trap 
up  far  enough  to  allow  the  others  a  chance  to  insert  their 
ready  fingers.  After  that  it  was  easily  completed,  and  the- 
square  of  wooden  flooring  removed. 

"  Dark  as  Egypt,"  remarked  Lil  Artha,  as  he  tried  to 
pierce  the  gloom  with  his  gaze. 

Elmer  made  a  move,  and  Chatz,  thinking  he  intended  de- 
scending the  ladder  that  led  down  into  the  unknown 
depths,  caught  his  arm. 

"  I  wouldn't  do  it,  Elmer,"  he  said. 

"  Do  what?  "  asked  the  other. 

"  Go  down  there,"  continued  Chatz.  "  No  telling  how 
deep  it  may  be  or  what  lies  there,  either.  If  anybody  must 
go,  send  me." 

"  "Well,"  laughed  Elmer,  "  I  like  your  nerve,  Chatz. 
Tou  think  something  might  hurt  me,  but  you  don't  care 


56  PATHFINDER. 

so  much  for  yourself.  That's  like  you  Southern  fellows} 
though.  But  make  your  mind  easy,  my  boy,  because  just 
at  present  I  don't  think  any  of  us  need  drop  into  this 
hole." 

"I'm  glad  of  that,"  declared  the  other;  "  but  when  you 
made  a  move  I  thought  you  were  going." 

"  Oh,  I  only  meant  to  get  out  my  newspaper  again,  and 
make  another  little  candle, ' '  said  Elmer,  with  a  chuckle. 

* '  Well,  say  what  you  will,  boys, ' '  remarked  Lil  Artha, 
who  had  been  thrusting  his  head  below  the  level  of  the 
floor  and  sniffing  at  a  great  rate ;  ' '  I  'm  glad,  too,  that  we 
don't  just  have  to  drop  down  this  ladder.  It's  cold  and 
damp  down  there,  and  I  tell  you  I  don't  like  the  smell." 

' '  There  is  a  queer  odor  comes  up,  now  that  you  mention 
it,"  admitted  Ebner. 

At  that  the  eyes  of  Chatz  grew  round  with  wonder  and 
suspense. 

"  Oh,  I  hope  you  don't  think — "  he  began,  when  Elmer 
interrupted  him. 

"  Kind  of  fishy  smell,  don't  you  think?  "  he  said. 

"  Well,  since  you  speak  of  it  I  rather  guess  it  is  some- 
thing like  that,"  Lil  Artha  admitted. 

Then  Chatz  breathed  easy  again. 

"  But  how  could  fish  ever  get  in  here  from  the  mill 
pond?  "  he  demanded. 

"Give  it  up;  I  pass.  Ask  me  something  easy,"  the 
tall  scout  hastened  to  say. 

Meanwhile  Elmer  had,  as  before,  taken  a  section  of 
the  newspaper,  crumpled  it  into  a  ball,  and  after  that 
drew  out  his  match  box. 


PATHFINDER.  57 

*'  Guess  it's  safe  to  drop  this  down,"  he  remarked.  "  It 
seems  so  damp  there  can  really  be  no  danger  of  anything 
taking  fire." 

"  Sure  there  couldn't,"  asserted  Lil  Artha,  sturdily. 
* '  Let  her  go,  Elmer ;  and  everybody  look. ' ' 

The  match  crackled,  and  the  resulting  flame  was  in- 
stantly applied  to  the  paper  ball. 

Then  Elmer  let  this  drop,  after  he  had  made  sure  it, 
would  burn. 

Three  pairs  of  very  good  eyes  immediately  started  in  to 
take  a  complete  inventory  of  the  contents  of  the  little 
damp  cellar  under  the  deserted  mill  cottage. 

For  perhaps  a  full  minute  the  paper  ball  continued  to 
burn,  lighting  up  the  cellar  well  enough  for  them  to  see 
from  wall  to  wall. 

Then  the  flame  dwindled,  flickered,  and  finally  went  out 
altogether.  Chatz  gave  a  big  sigh. 

' '  "Well,  I  declare !  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  What  did  you  see,  Chatz?  "  asked  Elmer. 

"  Who,  me?  "  exclaimed  the  Southern  boy.  "  Nothing 
at  all,  Elmer,"  and  his  manner  told  plainly  that  he  was 
both  disappointed  and  disgusted. 

"  How  about  you,  Arthur?  "  continued  the  acting  scout 
master. 

' '  What  did  I  see  ?  ' '  Lil  Artha  replied,  promptly ;  ' '  four 
damp-looking  stone  walls,  a  hard  earth  floor,  and  a  few  old 
boxes  lying  around,  but  not  another  blessed  thing." 

Something  about  Elmer's  manner  caught  his  attention 
and  aroused  his  suspicions. 

"  See  here,  did  you  discover  anything?  "  he  demanded* 


58  PATHFINDER. 

"  "Well,"  replied  Elmer,  "  I  can't  say  that  the  evidence 
is  so  plain  a  fellow  who  runs  may  read ;  but  from  a  number 
of  things  I've  seen  since  coming  here  to  the  Munsey  mill 
pond  I've  about  made  up  my  mind  this  place  isn't  quite 
as  deserted  as  people  seem  to  believe. ' ' 

' '  Do  you  mean,  Elmer, ' '  cried  Lil  Artha,  excitedly, 
"  that  tramps  or  some  more  yeggmen,  like  those  fellows  we 
met  with  up  at  McGraw's  lumber  camp,  have  squatted  here 
in  this  haunted  house?  " 

"  Something  like  that,"  replied  the  other,  steadily, 
"  though  I  don't  believe  they  dare  spend  a  night  under 
this  roof.  There's  no  sign  of  that." 

"  But  what  would  they  kidnap  our  chum  for?  "  de- 
manded the  excited  tall  scout. 

"  I  don't  know  for  certain,  but  we're  going  to  find  out 
pretty  soon,"  said  Elmer,  with  a  determined  look. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

HUNTING   FOR   THE   MISSING   SCOUT. 

"  HONEST,  now,  Elmer,  do  you  really  believe  that?  " 
dsked  Chatz  Maxfield,  after  staring  at  the  scout  master  in 
a  puzzled  manner  for  half  a  dozen  seconds. 

"  It  looks  so,  on  the  face  of  it,"  replied  the  other. 

"  But  plague  take  it,"  argued  Chatz,  "  for  the  life  of 
me  I  just  can't  understand,  suh,  what  those  fellows  would 
want  to  make  a  prisoner  of  poor  Nat  for.  In  all  our  troop 
he's  about  the  most  harmless  scout,  except  perhaps  Jasper 


PATHFINDER.  59 

Merriweather.  Nat  is  strong  as  an  ox,  but  he  wouldn't 
hurt  a  fly  if  he  could  help  it." 

"  That's  so,"  echoed  Lil  Artha.  "  I've  seen  him  walk 
around  so  as  not  to  step  on  a  harmless  little  snake  on  the 
road.  And  it  wasn't  because  he  was  afraid  of  snakes, 
either.  Remember  he  killed  that  fierce  big  copperhead  last 
summer,  after  the  other  fellows  had  skipped  out?  " 

"  There's  one  chance,  though,"  Elmer  went  on,  "  that 
after  all  Nat  may  be  hiding." 

11  But  he  knows  the  sound  of  the  bugle,  and  what  pen- 
alty follows  disobedience  on  the  part  of  a  scout, ' '  declared 
Lil  Artha. 

' '  That 's  true  enough,  fellows, ' '  Elmer  said,  as  if  he  him- 
self might  be  trying  to  see  through  a  haze ;  ' '  but  perhaps 
Nat  finds  himself  in  a  position  where  he  can't  answer  us 
without  betraying  himself  to  these  unknown  men." 

Again  did  Chatz  and  the  tall  scout  look  at  each  other 
helplessly.  And  judging  from  the  way  they  shook  their 
heads,  the  puzzle  was  evidently  too  deep  for  them. 

"  Say,  Elmer,  you  manage  to  get  on  to  these  things  in 
a  way  to  beat  the  band ;  could  you  give  a  guess  now  about 
how  many  men  there  are  holding  out  around  this  old 
haunted  mill?  " 

Lil  Artha  asked  this  in  good  faith.  He  had  come  to  be- 
lieve, with  most  of  his  comrades,  that  Elmer  Chenowith 
was  next  door  to  a  wizard.  Of  course  they  realized  that 
his  knowledge  was  at  all  times  founded  on  facts  and  com- 
mon sense ;  yet  this  did  not  detract  from  the  wonder  of  his 
accomplishments. 


60  PATHFINDER, 

"  I  think  there  are  three  at  least,  perhaps  four  or  fire 
in  the  lot,"  Elmer  replied. 

"  Whew!  that's  a  healthy  crowd  of  toughs,  now,  to  run 
up  against !  ' '  remarked  Lil  Artha. 

"  And  what  do  you  propose  doing,  suh,  if  I  may  make 
so  bold  as  to  ask?  " 

Chatz  was  usually  a  very  dignified  fellow,  especially  when 
coming  in  contact  with  one  who,  according  to  recognized 
scout  law,  must  be  considered  his  superior  officer,  and  as 
such  entitled  to  respect. 

' '  First  of  all,  perhaps  we  'd  better  go  outside, ' '  the  other 
replied. 

"  And  tell  the  rest  of  the  boys  what  we've  found — or 
rather  what  we  didn  't  find, ' '  remarked  Lil  Artha. 

"  Yes.  There  doesn't  seem  to  be  anything  more  to  poke 
into  here;  for  I'm  dead  certain  those  men,  whoever  they 
are,  don't  make  their  headquarters  in  either  the  mill  or 
the  cottage." 

"  You  mean  they  don't  sleep  here;  is  that  it,  suh?  "  in- 
quired Chatz. 

* '  That  covers  the  ground, ' '  Elmer  answered. 

"  But  they  do  come  in  here  sometimes,  while  the  sun 
is  shining,"  persisted  Chatz. 

"  I  have  seen  the  marks  of  many  heavy  hobnailed  shoes 
in  the  dust  of  this  place;  and  some  of  the  prints  were 
very  fresh,"  came  the  answer. 

"  Then  if  they're  wanting  in  the  nerve  to  sleep  under 
this  roof,  when  it  would  be  so  handy,  in  a  thunderstorm 
like  we  had  the  other  day,  for  instance,  that  looks  as  if 
they  believed  some  in  the  ghost  story,  don't  it,  Elmer?  " 


PATHFINDER.  61 

"  Why,  I  suppose  it  does,  Chatz." 

"  All  right.  I'm  not  saying  anything  more,"  remarked 
the  Southern  boy,  Aath  a  look  of  conviction  on  his  dark 
face,  ' '  but  I  only  hope  we  run  across  one  or  more  of  these 
mysterious  unknowns  while  we  're  up  at  Munsey  's  mill. ' ' 

' '  Listen  to  that,  would  you,  Elmer !  I  declare  if  he  don 't 
mean  to  interview  these  fellows,  and  find  out  what  they've 
gone  and  seen  here  in  the  night  time!  "  and  Lil  Artha 
chuckled  as  he  said  this. 

"  All  right,"  remarked  Chatz.  "  There  are  a  lot  of 
things  I've  always  wanted  to  know,  and  I'd  be  a  silly  to 
let  the  chance  slip  past  me." 

"  Hey,  how  about  this  bally  old  trapdoor,  Elmer?  "  de- 
manded Lil  Artha. 

"  We'd  better  put  it  back  where  it  belongs,"  replied 
the  scout  leader. 

' '  I  reckon  you  're  right,  suh, ' '  observed  Chatz.  ' '  If  some 
one  came  in  here,  walking  in  the  dark,  he  might  take  a 
nasty  header  down  this  hole." 

"  Say,  supposing  your  ghost  did  that,"  remarked  the 
tall  scout,  as  he  helped  lift  the  wooden  square  back  to 
where  it  belonged;  "  why,  you  could  do  better  than  ask- 
ing questions  of  an  outsider,  because,  Chatz,  you  might 
interview  your  old  ghost  himself." 

The  other  drew  himself  up. 

"  Kindly  omit  calling  it  my  ghost,  if  you  please,  suh," 
he  said,  stiffly.  "  I  don't  pretend  to  have  any  claim  on 
the  object  in  question — if  there  really  is  such  a  thing.  I'm 
only  wanting  to  know;  and  I  come  from  South  Carolina, 
suh,  not  Missouri." 


62  PATHFINDER. 

Elmer,  after  one  last  glance  around  the  kitchen,  was 
heading  for  the  other  room  where  an  exit  could  be  made. 

And  it  was  almost  ludicrous  to  see  with  what  haste  the 
other  two  followed  after;  just  as  if  neither  of  them  cared 
to  be  left  alone  inside  the  walls  of  the  haunted  mill  cot- 
tage. 

Once  outside,  they  found  several  of  their  comrades  clus- 
tered near  by,  evidently  awaiting  them.  That  curiosity  was 
»apidly  reaching  fever  heat  it  was  easy  to  see  from  the 
anxious  looks  cast  upon  those  who  had  been  investigating 
the  interior  of  the  buildings. 

No  doubt  every  fellow  had  meanwhile  been  industriously 
engaged  in  ransacking  his  brain  to  remember  all  he  had 
ever  heard  concerning  Munsey's  mill,  and  the  troublesome 
spirit  that  had  frightened  away  three  separate  tenants  in 
years  gone  by. 

They  were  rather  a  demoralized  trio  of  boys  who  wel- 
comed the  coming  of  Elmer,  Chatz,  and  Lil  Artha. 

' '  Find  any  signs  of  Nat  ?  ' '  asked  one. 

"  Hope  the  plagued  old  ghost  didn't  get  him,"  another 
ventured. 

' '  Tell  us  all  about  it,  Elmer  ?  ' '  asked  the  third  member 
of  the  little  bunch. 

But  the  scout  leader  instead  raised  the  bugle  to  his  lips 
and  sounded  the  assembly  call. 

Voices  were  heard,  and  immediately  the  others  came 
hurrying  to  the  spot.  Landy  was  the  last  to  arrive,  and 
he  came  up  puffing  and  blowing  as  though  he  might  have 
been  at  some  little  distance  when  he  heard  the  summons 
for  gathering. 


PATHFINDER.  63 

**  Listen !  **  said  Elmer,  raising  his  hand,  and  imme- 
diately the  confused  chattering  of  many  boyish  tongues 
ceased. 

This  enabled  them  to  hear  distant  shouts  from  the  south- 
east, as  though  newcomers  might  be  approaching  the  mill 
over  about  the  same  course  as  that  they  had  pursued. 

"  Mark  Cunimings  and  the  last  detachment!  "  declared 
Matty. 

' '  Hurrah !  six  more  good  fellows  to  do  battle  with  thi 
mtlaws  of  the  haunted  mill!  "  exclaimed  Red;  at  which 
some  of  the  others  gasped  in  astonishment,  and  exchanged 
uneasy  glances. 

"  Better  wait  till  they  all  get  here,  boys,"  said  Elmer, 
"  and  then  I'll  tell  you  what  we've  found  out,  also  what 
we  suspect. ' ' 

Chatz  and  Lil  Artha  could  not  but  notice  how  particular 
Elmer  was  to  use  the  plural  pronoun.  But  then,  that  was 
always  his  way.  "Whatever  faults  the  boy  may  have  had — 
and  the  best  o*  fellows  comes  far  from  being  perfect — self- 
ishness was  not  one  of  them.  Impatiently  they  waited 
for  the  coming  of  the  six  scouts  forming  the  last  detach- 
ment. This  would  increase  their  rollcall  to  sixteen,  lack- 
ing only  one  of  the  number  that  had  started  out. 

Presently  a  sight  of  khaki  uniforms  among  the  trees  an- 
nounced their  near  approach. 

As  the  two  wings  of  the  Hickory  Ridge  Troop  of  Boy 
Scouts  came  together,  there  was  a  general  exchange  of 
badinage. 

The  newcomers  had  an  intense  desire  to  learn  whether 


64  PATHFINDER. 

their  interpretation  of  the  messages  might  excel  that  of 
the  first  detachment. 

But  in  the  midst  of  the  questioning,  the  startling  news 
concerning  Nat  Scott's  mysterious  vanishing  began  to  cir- 
culate among  the  newcomers. 

This  put  a  quietus  on  all  business,  and  the  entire  troop 
clustered  around  Elmer,  begging  to  know  what  it  could 
mean. 

So  the  scout  master,  understanding  just  how  his  comrades 
must  feel,  started  in  to  explain,  as  far  as  lay  in  his  power. 

First  of  all,  for  the  benefit  of  the  newcomers,  he  told 
of  how  Nat's  disappearance  was  brought  to  his  attention 
by  Toby  and  Ty,  just  before  the  coming  of  Matty  and  his 
group  of  scouts. 

Then  he  quickly  related  what  he  and  Chatz  and  Lil  Ar- 
tha  had  done  in  the  deserted  buildings  close  by. 

Presently  the  story  was  finished,  and  some  of  the  boys, 
who  had  listened  with  hearts  beating  much  faster  than 
their  wont,  took  the  first  decent  breath  in  five  minutes. 

Of  course  questions  poured  in  on  Elmer  as  thick  as 
hail  stones  during  a  summer  storm.  Finding  it  utterly 
impossible  to  answer  a  quarter  of  these  intelligently,  and 
make  any  kind  of  progress,  Elmer  called  for  silence. 

"  It  stands  to  reason,  fellows,"  he  remarked,  when  the 
last  whisper  had  died  away,  "  that  we've  got  to  have  sys- 
tem about  this  thing  if  we  expect  to  do  any  business.  Am 
I  right?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,"  came  from  every  scout;  for  boys  though 
they  were,  they  recognized  the  wisdom  of  what  he  said. 

* '  All  right,  then, ' '  Elmer  went  on.    ' '  I  'm  going  to  divide 


PATHFINDER.  65 

the  troop  into  three  searching  parties.  "We  must  scour  the 
neighborhood  and  see  if  .we  can  find  any  sign  of  where  these 
unknown  men  sleep,  for  there  isn't  any  trace  of  their 
staying  in  cottage  or  mill  at  night  time." 

"  We  understand  what  you  mean,  Elmer.  How  shall 
we  divide  up?  "  asked  Mark. 

"  You  keep  your  detachment  as  it  was,  intact,  Mark," 
came  the  reply;  "  and  Matty,  you  have  your  six  to  back 
you.  Lil  Artha,  Toby,  and  Ty  will  fall  in  with  me,  and 
make  the  third  party." 

"  All  right,  suh,  we  understand,"  called  out  Chatz. 

But  he,  as  well  as  many  others  of  the  boys,  showed  in 
their  faces  that  they  envied  the  good  luck  of  the  three 
fellows  who  had  been  picked  out  to  form  Elmer's  smaller 
group. 

"  What  are  our  duties  to  be?  "  asked  Mark,  who,  having 
only  recently  arrived,  and  being  staggered  by  the  sudden 
nature  of  the  intelligence,  had  as  yet  not  fully  grasped 
the  situation. 

"  First  of  all,  let  every  scout  who  has  not  already  done 
so,  pick  up  a  stout  club  in  the  woods,  as  he  passes  along," 
said  Elmer. 

"  Like  this,  for  instance,"  remarked  'Jack  Armitage, 
flourishing  a  husky  specimen  that  would  pass  muster  for  an 
Irishman's  shillalah. 

"  Or  this!  "  cried  Red,  whose  cudgel  was  as  long  as  a 
walking  stick,  and  almost  as  thick  through  as  his  wrist. 

"  Suit  yourselves  about  that,  boys,"  continued  the  scout 
master,  "  only  don't  be  in  a  hurry  to  use  them  as  weapons 
until  you  have  the  order.  Now,  each  detachment  must 


66  PATHFINDER. 

keep  close  enough,  together  so  that  the  members  may  com- 
municate by  means  of  patrol  calls — the  cry  of  the  wolf, 
the  slap  of  a  beaver's  tail  as  he  beats  the  water  to  call  his 
mate,  or  the  scream  of  the  eagle." 

"  "We  know,  Elmer;  what  else?  "  asked  Matty. 

"  All  the  while  you  will  keep  on  the  lookout  for  some 
sign  of  the  enemy.  The  scout  who  discovers  anything 
that  he  thinks  would  have  a  bearing  on  the  solving  of  the 
puzzle  must  immediately  summon  his  leader.  This  he  can 
do  by  the  whistle  which  all  of  you  know,  as  it  has  been 
used  before." 

"  Is  that  all,  Elmer?  "  asked  Mark. 

' l  If  the  matter  seems  very  important  to  the  mind  of  the 
leader,  let  him  give  the  assembly  call  very  loud  on  his 
whistle.  Upon  hearing  that,  every  scout  is  expected  to 
give  up  hunting  on  his  own  account,  and  head  in  toward 
the  place  the  signal  comes  from.  Is  that  plain  to  every 
fellow?  " 

A  chorus  of  assent  answered  him. 

"  That's  all,  then,  fellows,"  Elmer  went  on.  "  Do  your 
duty,  every  scout.  We've  got  to  find  our  comrade,  and 
we've  got  to  get  him  out  of  the  hands  of  these  men,  who- 
ever they  may  turn  out  to  be." 

"  If  they've  hurt  our  Nat,  it's  going  to  be  a  bad  day 
for  them,  that's  all,"  blustered  Red,  as  he  pounded  his 
club  against  an  inoffensive  stone. 

"  Now,  start  out,  fellows,  and  let's  see  who'll  be  the 
lucky  one  to  discover  this  hidden  shack  where  these  men 
must  stay  nights,"  Elmer  concluded. 

"  Say,  hold  on  here!    Is  that  what  you're  looking  for — 


PATHFINDER.  67 

a  hidden  shack?    Why,  I  can  take  you  to  one  right  now." 
called  out  a  voice. 

The  speaker  was  Landy  Smith. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  AMBITION   OP   LANDY. 

EVERY  boy  became  suddenly  stationary  when  this  sur- 
prising intelligence  broke  from  the  lips  of  the  new  member, 
who,  like  three  others  in  the  troop,  did  not  wear  a  khaki 
uniform. 

Elmer  had  several  times  let  his  eye  fall  on  the  stout 
boy,  as  though  trying  to  guess  what  his  manner  indicated. 

He  had  seen  Landy  come  up  last  of  all,  panting  so  for 
breath  that  not  one  word  had  he  spoken  while  the  scout 
master  was  explaining  things. 

Landy  was  not  only  a  tenderfoot  scout,  but  he  had  in 
a  number  of  ways  proven  his  right  to  the  title  of  green- 
horn. 

Imagine,  then,  the  utter  amazement  of  his  comrades 
when  he  so  coolly  declared  that  he  might  be  able  to  lead 
them  to  a  hidden  shack. 

Elmer,  if  surprised,  did  not  allow  this  fact  to  interfere 
with  his  plain  duty. 

"  Come  here,  Landy,"  he  said,  and  the  stout  new  re- 
cruit hastened  to  do  as  he  was  ordered. 

Of  course  Landy  would  not  have  been  human,  and  a 
BS— 29 


b8  PATHFINDER. 

boy,  had  he  been  able  to  repress  the  grin  that  forced  itself 
upon  his  rosy  countenance. 

Perhaps  he  remembered  saying  not  so  very  long  ago 
that  the  time  might  come  when  he  would  be  able  to  prove 
his  ability  to  carry  the  name  of  a  scout. 

Of  course  at  the  time  Landy  could  never  have  even 
dreamed  the  opening  would  arrive  so  soon.  That  made 
it  all  the  more  welcome.  Perhaps  now,  some  of  the  fel- 
lows who  loved  to  tease  him,  and  say  that  he  was  too 
fat  and  slow-witted  to  ever  be  a  shining  success  in  the 
Hickory  Hill  troop,  would  change  their  tune. 

Landy 's  hour  had  come.  He  was  in  the  lime  light,  and 
occupied  the  center  of  the  stage. 

Mindful  of  the  respect  due  his  superior  officer,  Landy 
Baluted  as  he  clicked  his  heels  together,  and  stood  at  atten- 
tion before  the  scout  master. 

"  You  say  you  can  show  us  where  there  is  a  hidden 
Bhack  or  cabin,  do  you,  Number  Eight?  " 

Elmer  frequently  addressed  the  boys  by  the  number 
they  held  in  their  patrol,  and  as  Landy  was  the  last  one 
admitted  into  the  Wolf  Patrol  he  went  as  Number  Eight. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  the  tenderfoot  replied,  quite  enjoying  the 
fact  that  fifteen  pairs  of  eager  eyes  were  riveted  upon  him 
right  then  and  there. 

Landy  looked  redder  than  usual,  but  for  all  that  he 
seemed  able  to  command  his  voice,  for  it  did  not  tremble  a 
particle. 

"  You  arrived  later  than  the  rest  when  I  sounded  the 
assembly  on  the  bugle, ' '  went  on  Elmer ;  ' '  was  that  because 
you  were  some  little  distance  away?  " 


PATHFINDER.  69 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  was  just  going  to  peek  in  through  the 
window  of  that  funny  little  cabin  I  found  when  I  heard 
the  call.  But  I  didn't  look,  sir,  because  I  knew  a  scout's 
duty  was  to  obey!  " 

' '  Hear,  hear !  ' '  said  Red,  in  a  low  voice. 

"  That  was  well  done,  Number  Eight,"  Elmer  continued, 
"  and  I  hope  you  will  always  keep  your  duty  before  your 
mind.  Do  you  think  you  could  lead  us  to  where  you  saw 
that  hidden  shack?  " 

' '  I  expect  I  can,  sir ;  anyhow,  I  'm  ready  to  try, ' '  Landy 
promptly  answered. 

Several  of  the  scouts  exchanged  nods  and  glances.  Why, 
they  had  never  before  dreamed  that  the  fat  boy  had  so 
much  business  about  him.  He  acted  just  as  might  one 
who  had  been  a  member  of  the  troop  a  whole  month,  instead 
of  but  a  few  days. 

It  was  plain  to  be  seen  that  his  becoming  a  scout  was 
going  to  be  the  making  of  Philander  Smith.  Already 
there  was  a  great  change  in  his  ways.  He  was  throwing 
off  his  weaknesses,  and  beginning  to  think  for  himself. 

"  All  right,"  said  Elmer;  "  suppose  you  come  with  me, 
then,  Number  Eight,  and  try  to  go  back  over  your  own 
trail.  That  might  be  the  quickest  way  to  get  there." 

"  But  how  about  us,  Mr.  Scout  Master;  do  we  keep  up 
the  formation  as  arranged?  "  asked  Mark. 

"  No,  for  the  present  that  is  all  off,"  Elmer  replied, 
"  the  whole  of  you  fall  in  behind;  and  don't  forget  to 
keep  an  eye  out  for  your  sticks.  But  no  talking  above  a 
whisper,  remember.  This  may  turn  out  to  be  serious  busi- 
ness." 


70  PATHFINDER. 

The  scouts  already  realized  this.  Still  his  words  of 
caution  entailing  silence  were  well  placed,  for  boys  as  a 
rule  do  love  to  chatter. 

And  so  the  whole  troop  started  off,  with  Elmer  and  Landy 
in  the  lead,  the  latter  hardly  knowing  whether  to  be  tickled 
at  the  attention  he  was  receiving,  or  worried  because  he 
presently  began  to  doubt  his  ability  to  ' '  deliver  the  goods. ' ' 

Strange  how  all  sections  of  the  woods  look  alike  to 
a  fellow  who  is  a  novice  in  the  art  of  picking  his  way. 
Landy  had  imagined  that  he  was  just  soaking  in  valuable 
information  while  following  the  lead  of  Matty  or  Elmer. 
But  when  the  crisis  arose,  and  he  found  himself  placed 
upon  his  own  responsibility,  he  lost  confidence. 

Pretty  soon  Elmer  guessed  the  truth,  and  that  their 
guide  was  getting  what  Lil  Artha  would  call  "  wabbly." 
This  was  when  he  took  them  twice  to  the  same  spot  and  then 
looked  pained. 

"  Up  a  stump,  fellows,"  chuckled  Larry,  who  had  per- 
haps himself  felt  a  little  twinge  of  jealousy  because  a  green- 
horn had  so  suddenly  leaped  into  the  front  when  older  and 
more  experienced  scouts  had  been  unable  to  score. 

But  Elmer  was  not  at  all  dismayed.  In  fact,  to  tell  the 
actual  truth,  he  had  rather  expected  that  the  new  beginner 
might  find  more  or  less  trouble  in  carrying  out  his  orders. 

"  Getting  mixed  up  some,  are  you,  Number  Eight?  " 
he  demanded,  as  Landy  scratched  his  head  and  then  ten- 
derly caressed  quite  a  good-sized  lump  they  now  saw  he 
had  on  his  forehead. 

'*  Well,  I'm  sorry  to  say,  sir,  I  se«m  to  be  a  little  con- 
tused," admitted  the  fat  boy;  "  but  then  perhaps  that 


PATHFINDER.  71 

ain't  to  be  wondered  at  if  you  knew  just  how  hard  1 
bumped  into  that  crooked  tree  yonder." 

"  With  your  head?  "  asked  Elmer. 

* '  Yes,  sir, ' '  replied  Landy ;  ' '  you  see  I  was  trying  to 
hurry,  when  my  foot  caught  in  a  vine  and  I  went  ker-slam 
right  against  that  tree.  Say,  but  I  saw  ten  million  stars 
right  then!  and  that's  no  exaggeration,  sir." 

"  Why  do  you  say  it  was  this  tree,  Number  Eight?  " 
the  young  disciple  of  woodcraft  continued. 

"  Well,  it  was  impressed  pretty  forcibly  on  my  head, 
and  my  mind,  too,  sir,"  grinned  Landy,  "  and  perhaps,  if 
you  looked,  you  could  find  the  dent  I  bet  I  made  when  I 
struck. ' ' 

Some  of  the  boys  snickered  at  this.  Not  so  Elmer,  who 
seemed  to  feel  he  had  quite  a  serious  proposition  on  his 
hands,  and  that  the  others  had  a  right  to  look  to  him  to 
untangle  the  knot. 

"  I'll  soon  find  out,"  he  said,  and  then  turning  to  the 
crowd  he  added :  ' '  keep  back  and  give  me  a  chance  to 
see  if  Landy  is  right. ' ' 

"  He's  after  the  trail,  that's  what,"  said  one  of  the 
scouts,  as  they  saw  Elmer  advance  to  where  the  crooked  tree 
pointed  out  by  the  fat  recruit  stood,  and  bend  down  at 
its  base. 

Every  eye  remained  glued  on  the  young  scout  master. 
Not  a  word  more  was  said,  for  they  knew  that  explanation 
of  Elmer's  movements  must  be  the  right  one. 

No  sooner  had  Elmer  dropped  to  his  knees  than  he  felt 
a  thrill  of  pleasure. 

"  It's  here,  sure  enough!  "  he  muttered,  as  his  eye  dis- 


72  PATHFINDER. 

covered  the  torn  turf  where  Landy  's  toes  must  have  dragged 
when  he  fell. 

And  with  the  knowledge  of  trailing  which  he  possessed, 
it  must  surely  prove  an  easy  task  to  follow  those  plain 
tracks.  Landy  knew  nothing  at  all  concerning  the  art  of 
hiding  a  trail,  and  which  the  bearer  of  the  wampum  belt 
and  his  companion  had  tried  their  best  to  put  into  prac- 
tice with  the  idea  of  deceiving  the  pathfinder  who  came 
behind. 

When  Landy  put  bis  foot  down  it  was  with  considerable 
emphasis.  Consequently,  any  one  of  the  more  experienced 
scouts  would  have  been  equal  to  the  task  of  following  that 
trail  backward. 

As  Elmer  moved  away  he  made  a  swift,  beckoning  move- 
ment with  his  arm.  This  the  boys  interpreted  as  a  com- 
mand or  invitation  to  "  get  a  move  on,"  as  Lil  Artha  put 
it,  and  follow  after  their  leader. 

So  the  troop  moved  onward,  and  more  than  one  fellow's 
teeth  came  together  with  a  click  as  he  grasped  his  cudgel 
tighter  in  his  hand,  and  resolved  to  give  a  good  account 
of  himself  should  it  become  necessary  to  do  something 
violent. 

True,  the  rules  counseled  peaceful  victories;  but  there 
may  be  times  when  it  becomes  absolutely  necessary  for 
Boy  Scouts  to  show  that  they  have  good  red  blood  in  their 
veins. 

And  most  of  those  present  were  of  the  opinion  that  the 
present  occasion  promised  to  be  just  such  a  crisis  that  called 
for  strenuous  treatment. 

Their  companion,  Nat  Scott,  had   mysteriously  disap- 


PATHFINDER.  73 

peared,  and  they  had  good  reason  to  believe  that  he  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  these  unknown  men  who  made  the 
vicinity  of  Munsey's  mill  their  secret  headquarters. 

Why  they  should  seize  upon  Nat,  and  what  object  they 
could  have  in  holding  him  a  prisoner,  were  questions  no 
one  could  answer,  as  yet.  But  they  meant  to  know,  and 
that  before  long. 

Now  and  then  some  fellow  would  step  aside  without  a 
word,  and  possess  himself  of  some  attractive  club  that  had 
caught  his  eye  while  passing. 

Evidently  none  of  them  had  forgotten  the  injunction  of 
their  leader  to  arm  themselves.  And  really  it  was  strange 
how  much  comfort  even  a  stout  walking  stick  could  give 
a  fellow  on  an  occasion  of  this  sort,  when  unseen  and  un- 
known perils  hovered  about  them. 

Meanwhile  Elmer  stuck  to  his  task.  Indeed,  it  was  an 
easy  one  for  so  experienced  a  tracker  and  pathfinder,  and 
he  did  not  hurry  along  faster  simply  because  he  wanted  a 
little  time  to  collect  his  own  thoughts,  and  decide  what 
ought  to  be  done. 

When  Landy  so  obediently  gave  up  his  investigation, 
and  sought  to  rejoin  the  balance  of  the  troop  when  the 
bugle  sounded,  he  managed  to  make  what  proved  to  be  a 
"  bee  line  "  through  the  woods.  Even  trees  that  were  in 
the  way  could  not  stop  him  with  impunity,  as  he  had 
proven  when  he  collided  with  that  crooked  one. 

This  made  Elmer's  job  still  easier.  And  as  he  advanced 
farther  into  the  woods  he  marveled  first  at  the  rashness 
of  Landy  in  wandering  so  far  away;  and  second  at  the 
ability  he  displayed  in  getting  safely  back  to  the  shore  of 
the  pond. 


74  PATHFINDER. 

Elmer  was  keeping  one  eye  out  ahead  as  he  moved  along. 
Of  course  he  anticipated  coming  upon  the  concealed  shack 
at  any  moment  now.  When  he  saw  an  unusually  large 
cluster  of  high  bushes  and  undergrowth  he  felt  positive 
that  he  must  be  almost  in  touch  with  the  place. 

What  kind  of  reception  might  they  expect?  If  these 
men,  whom  none  of  them  had  as  yet  even  seen,  turned  out 
to  be  rascals  who  were  hiding  from  justice,  and  who 
suspected  them  of  being  a  posse  sent  out  to  round  up  the 
tramp  thieves,  their  manner  of  greeting  might  prove  to  be 
anything  but  friendly. 

Could  they  have  one  or  more  fierce  dogs  among  them? 
Elmer  had  not  seen  the  first  trace  of  a  dog  anywhere 
around,  but  this  could  hardly  be  accepted  as  positive  evi- 
dence that  there  were  none. 

Frequently  such  men  make  it  a  point  to  possess  canine 
companions.  And  these  are  invariably  of  some  species  fond 
of  the  spirit  of  battle. 

It  was  partly  the  expectation  of  running  across  such 
four-footed  enemies  that  had  influenced  Elmer  to  have 
the  boys  arm  themselves  with  clubs.  He  knew  what  a 
power  for  good  a  stout  cudgel  may  prove  under  such  con- 
ditions. 

Looking  closely  he  had  to  confess  that  he  could  see  no 
sign  of  life  about  that  clump  of  bushes. 

And  yet  the  trail  led  directly  from  it ;  and  as  if  to  sweep 
away  his  last  remaining  doubt  he  now  discovered  a  second 
series  of  fresh  tracks  leading  straight  toward  the  spot. 

Besides,  here  was  a  regular  path,  beaten  down  by  many 
feet,  and  which  headed  in  the  quarter  Elmer  knew  the  big 
pond  lay. 


PATHFINDER.  71 

That  settled  it. 

Elmer  waited  for  the  balance  of  the  troop  to  come  up. 
Everyone's  gaze  was  fastened  on  him.  Eyes  flashed  morf 
brightly  than  usual,  and  some  of  the  boys  naturally  showed 
their  nervousness  by  the  way  they  kept  their  cudgela 
moving. 

"  Is  that  the  place,  Landy,  where  you  saw  the  shack?  " 
he  demanded. 

Landy  had  known  it  was  for  more  than  a  full  minute 
past,  but  he  remembered  that  a  scout  on  duty  must  wait 
to  be  asked  before  volunteering  any  information. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  he  replied,  "  that  is  the  place." 

"  Spread  out  a  little,  fellows, "  said  Elmer,  quietly,  "  and 
advance  slowly.  Everyone  be  ready  to  give  a  good  account 
of  himself  if  they  rush  any  dogs  on  us.  Forward  now!  " 

And  silently  the  sixteen  scouts,  spread  out  somewhat  like 
an  open  fan,  started  to  advance  upon  the  strange  dense 
thicket  in  which  Landy  had  seen  a  shack. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

BEADING  THE  SIGNS. 

"HALT!" 

At  the  command  the  scouts  came  to  a  stop.  They  had 
Deen  gradually  concentrating  as  they  pushed  forward,  so 
that  when  this  halt  was  made  they  formed  half  a  circle, 
&nd  each  fellow  was  almost  touching  elbows  with  the  next 
in  line. 

Just  before  them,  even  though  pretty  well  concealed  by 


/6  PATHFINDER. 

the  foliage  of  the  bushes,  they  could  make  out  what  ap- 
peared to  be  a  rough  shack. 

No  other  name  would  apply,  for  it  was  clumsily  built  out 
of  odds  and  ends  of  boards,  secured  at  the  mill,  no  doubt, 
together  with  sods,  a  heap  of  stones,  some  mud  that  had 
hardened  until  it  resembled  mortar;  and,  finally,  a  roof 
thatched  with  straw,  much  after  the  style  the  boys  had 
seen  in  pictures  of  foreign  cottages  in  Switzerland,  France, 
and  Italy. 

"  Say,"  observed  Red,  who  found  it  unusually  hard  to 
keep  from  expressing  his  views,  "  I  don't  believe  there  are 
any  kiyi  dogs  around  here,  fellows." 

"  Don't  seem  like  it,"  remarked  another,  doubtless 
breathing  a  sigh  of  relief  at  the  improved  prospect. 

"  Sure  we'd  have  heard  them  give  tongue,"  observed 
Toby,  advancing  boldly  to  look  in  through  the  opening  at 
the  side  of  the  shack,  and  which  doubtless  served  the  pur- 
pose of  a  window. 

"  Careful,  Toby;  go  slow,"  called  out  Elmer;  for  there 
could  be  no  telling  what  sort  of  a  storm  the  appearance 
of  the  boys  in  khaki  might  raise  within  the  shanty. 

An  intense  silence  followed.  Every  fellow  could  feel 
his  heart  pounding  against  his  ribs  like  a  trip  hammer,  and 
he  wondered  whether  the  sound  were  loud  enough  to  be- 
tray his  nervous  frame  of  mind  to  his  companions,  never 
dreaming  that  they  were  all  in  the  same  box. 

A  red  squirrel  in  a  tree  overhead,  that  had  been  observ- 
ing all  these  doings  with  round-eyed  wonder,  began  to 
chatter  and  scold.  A  little  striped  chipmunk  sat  up  on  a 
neighboring  stump  and  took  note. 


PATHFINDER.  77 

*'  Nobody  home,  fellers,"  called  out  Toby,  after  he  had 
apparently  stared  in  through  that  opening  for  more  than 
a  full  minute. 

Some  of  the  scouts  looked  relieved;  others  frowned  as 
if  disgusted.  This  sort  of  thing  might  be  all  very  well, 
but  it  did  not  seem  to  be  taking  them  any  closer  to  the 
rescue  of  their  comrade,  or  clearing  up  any  of  the  dark 
fog  of  mystery  that  hung  like  a  wet  blanket  between  them- 
selves and  the  solution. 

Elmer  immediately  strode  forward.  By  following  the 
well-defined  path  he  was  able  to  find  himself  at  what  was 
plainly  the  rude  door  of  the  shack. 

Upon  this  he  knocked  sharply.  There  came  no  answer, 
and  even  the  keenest  ears  among  the  scouts  failed  to  catch 
the  slightest  sound  following  this  summons. 

"  Try  it  once  more,  Elmer,"  advised  cautious  Mark. 

Again  the  tattoo  sounded,  but  as  before  it  produced 
no  results.  So  Elmer  opened  the  door,  which  he  saw  had 
been  fashioned  in  the  rudest  way  from  boards,  and  hung 
upon  strap  hinges. 

As  he  pushed  the  door  aside,  every  scout  held  his  breath 
and  gripped  his  stick  expectantly.  But  nothing  happened. 
No  string  of  rough  men  came  bustling  forth,  demanding 
in  coarse  language  what  the  boys  meant  by  bothering  them. 

It  looked  as  though  Toby  must  have  struck  the  right 
key  when  he  so  confidently  declared  there  was  nobody 
at  home. 

So  Elmer  entered,  with  some  of  the  bolder  among  the 
scouts  at  his  heels.  The  balance  contented  themselves  in 
pressing  around  the  door  and  window,  and  taking  it  out 
in  looking. 


78  PATHFINDER. 

Just  as  he  had  expected,  Elmer  found  the  interior  of  thtJ 
shack  pretty  gloomy.  Under  the  best  of  conditions  very 
little  daylight  could  find  a  way  through  such  small  open- 
ings, and  these  were  now  almost  filled  by  the  bodies  of 
the  curious  scouts.  But  this  was  a  matter  easily  remedied. 
Elmer  had  his  matchsafe  ready  in  his  hands,  and  his  first 
act  was  to  strike  a  light. 

As  soon  as  the  match  flamed  up  he  cast  one  quick  look 
around  the  interior.  This  assured  him  that  there  were  cer- 
tainly no  low-browed  men  crouching  in  the  corners,  and 
ready  to  hurl  themselves  upon  the  young  invaders. 

The  next  thing  Elmer  did  was  also  a  very  natural  move. 
He  saw  a  candle  in  a  bottle,  standing  on  an  upturned  box, 
and  stepping  forward  he  applied  his  match  to  the  waiting 
wick. 

Then  he  looked  around  again. 

There  could  be  no  doubt  about  this  shack  having  been 
recently  used  as  sleeping  quarters  by  a  number  of  men. 

Several  heaps  of  straw  told  where  they  lay,  and  Elmer 
counted  four  of  these.  Then  there  were  a  few  bits  of  old 
clothing  hanging  from  nails,  a  pair  of  heavy  shoes,  a  frying 
pan,  a  kettle  in  which  coffee  might  have  been  made,  some 
broken  bread,  part  of  a  ham,  and  some  ears  of  corn;  thia 
last  possibly  stolen  from  the  field  of  some  farmer. 

It  looked  like  a  tramp's  paradise,  but  the  puzzle  was, 
what  would  tramps  be  doing  so  far  away  from  all  customary 
sources  of  supply? 

Elmer  sniffed  the  atmosphere,  which  was  both  heavy  and 
far  from  pleasant.  And  Lil  Artha,  who  had  pressed  into 


PATHFINDER  79 

the  shack,  hot  upon  the  heels  of  his  chief,  took  note  of  his 
significant  action. 

"  I  should  say  yes,  it's  rank  as  all  get  out,"  he  remarked, 
holding  his  nose  between  a  finger  and  thumb.  "  Even 
beats  that  fishy  smell  we  struck  when  we  looked  down  into 
the  cellar  at  the  cottage.  "Whew !  ' ' 

Others  expressed  themselves  about  as  strongly,  and  little 
Jasper  Merriweather,  who  had  unwisely  pushed  into  the 
shack,  found  it  necessary  to  hurry  out  again,  white  of  face 
and  gasping. 

But  Elmer  had  conceived  an  idea,  even  while  suffering 
from  the  unpleasant  odor  of  the  place. 

' '  Howling  cats !  ' '  exclaimed  Lil  Artha,  ' '  I  don 't  see 
how  you  can  stand  it,  Elmer.  Talk  to  me  about  tramps, 
and  the  way  they  hate  water,  here's  the  rank  evidence  of 
it.  Wow,  ain't  I  sorry  for  poor  Nat  if  he's  got  to  asso- 
ciate with  this  hobo  crowd  for  long!  " 

"  But  how  do  we  know  they're  hoboes?*"  asked  Elmer, 
turning  on  the  tall  scout. 

"  Hey?  What's  that?  "  exclaimed  Lil  Artha,  actually 
so  surprised  that  he  neglected  to  hold  that  firm  grip  on 
his  nose  any  longer. 

' '  What  makes  you  so  sure  they  're*  tramps  ?  ' '  pursued  the 
scout  master. 

"  Why,  goodness  gracious  alive,  Elmer,  you  don't  mean 
to  say  you  doubt  that  now  ?  ' '  cried  the  tall  boy,  sweeping 
his  hand  around  as  though  to  draw  attention  to  the  various 
articles  that  seemed  to  stamp  that  theory  a  positive  fact. 

"  Seeing  these  things  here  is  what  makes  me  question 
that  idea  very  much,"  began  Elmer;  and  then  he  picked 


80  PATHFINDER. 

up  one  of  the  old  shoes,  to  hold  it  at  arm 's  length.  ' c  Look 
at  that,  fellows ;  never  made  in  this  country,  and  you  know 
it.  Hobnails  such  as  no  one  but  foreigners  use  on  their 
shoes. ' ' 

' '  Well,  I  declare ;  I  guess  Elmer's  right ! ' '  exclaimed  Red. 

"  He  certainly  is,  suh,  take  my  word  foh  it,"  was  the 
way  Chatz  expressed  himself. 

' '  Now  look  here,  whoever  saw  a  tramp 's  nest  with  any- 
thing like  this  in  it?  "  and  Elmer  picked  up  a  string  of 
beads,  evidently  a  rosary,  that  must  have  been  overlooked 
in  a  hasty  flight. 

"  "Whew,  that's  going  some!  "  ejaculated  Phil  Dale  who, 
with  his  cousin  Landy,  happened  to  be  in  the  shack  eager 
to  see  all  that  went  on. 

"  Perhaps  he  can  even  tell  us  what  brand  of  foreigners 
these  fellows  are,"  remarked  Landy,  who  was  beginning 
to  look  upon  Elmer  pretty  much  in  the  light  of  a  wizard. 

"  Oh,  that  ought  to  be  easy,  fellows,"  said  the  young 
scout  master,  as  he  reached  up  and  took  down  a  worn  letter 
his  quick  eye  had  noticed  stuck  in  a  crack. 

Every  eye  was  immediately  focused  on  the  scout  master. 
They  knew  his  reasoning  powers  of  old,  and  expected  that 
Elmer  would  quickly  put  them  on  the  right  track  now. 

Indeed,  hardly  had  the  latter  glanced  at  the  well-worn 
letter  he  held  than  he  smiled. 

"  What  is  it?  "  asked  Red,  impatiently. 

"  Yes,  tell  us  what  you've  found  out,  Elmer,"  said  Lil 
Artha. 

"  Why,  look  here  at  the  name.  As  near  as  I  can  make 
out  it's  Giuseppi  Caroni,"  replied  the  other. 


PATHFINDER.  81 

"  "Wow,  that  is  plain  enough!  "  exclaimed  Red. 

"  Sure  Italiano, "  echoed  the  tall  scout. 

"  Just  as  I  thought,"  replied  Elmer. 

* '  But  you  can  prove  it, ' '  remarked  Chatz. 

"  That's  easy  enough,"  added  Dr.  Ted,  "the  thtamp 
ought  to  be  enough,  you  thee." 

"  And  if  it  isn't,  fellows,  here's  the  postmark  as  plain 
as  anything — Naples,  Italy,"  continued  Elmer. 

"  Naples,  hey?  "  remarked  Lil  Artha.  "  Say,  I  was  just 
reading  about  Naples  the  other  day,  and  it  said  that  next 
to  the  island  of  Sicily  we  get  more  of  our  Black  Hand 
crowd  from  there  than  any  other  part  of  Garibaldi's  old 
land." 

A  gasp  seemed  to  go  the  complete  rounds  of  all  the 
khaki-clad  warriors  who  thronged  that  mysterious  little 
shack. 

' '  Black  Hand,  you  say,  Lil  Artha  ?  ' '  exclaimed  Red. 

' '  Yes,  and  anarchists,  too ;  the  kind  that  blow  up  the 
kings  and  queens  of  the  Old  "World.  The  kind  that  abduct 
people  so  as  to  make  their  rich  relatives  whack  up  a  big 
ransom. ' ' 

"  Oh!  " 

Some  of  the  boys  looked  a  little  timid,  and  glanced  around 
apprehensively,  as  though  they  anticipated  seeing  a  whole 
bunch  of  fierce-looking  dynamite  users  rise  up  around  them. 

Others  shut  their  teeth  together  harder  than  ever,  and 
these  more  determined  fellows,  it  might  be  noticed,  tight- 
ened the  grip  they  had  upon  their  sticks. 

All  eyes  were  turned  again  upon  Elmer,  who  had  listened 
to  these  remarks  with  an  amused  smile. 


82  PATHFINDER. 

"  Hold  on  your  horses,  boys,"  he  said,  raising  his  hand 
just  then  to  still  the  rising  dispute. 

"  Shut  up,  everybody;  Elmer's  got  something  more  to 
tell  us,"  Lil  Artha  cried. 

The  hubbub  died  away,  and  an  eagerness  to  listen  took 
its  place;  for  every  one  of  them  was  anxious  to  pick  up 
points  concerning  the  clever  way  their  leader  figured  things 
out. 

It  was  an  important  part  of  a  scout's  duty  to  learn 
how  to  read  signs,  not  only  when  following  a  trail,  but  at 
all  times. 

And  especially  valuable  would  this  qualification  become 
when  confronted  by  a  baffling  mystery  such  as  the  Hickory 
Ridge  troop  was  now  up  against. 

"  Those  who  occupied  this  shack  were  four  in  number," 
Elmer  began. 

"  How  did  you  find  that  out?  "  asked  Red. 

"  By  the  various  tracks.  So  far  as  I  could  see  there 
were  just  four  separate  kinds  leading  up  to  this  place, 
and  each  one  different." 

"  Hurrah!  I  tell  you,  fellows,  that's  the  way  to  learn 
things.  Elmer  knows  how  to  do  it, ' '  cried  Lil  Artha. 

Without  even  smiling  at  the  implied  compliment  Elmer 
went  on: 

"  Two  of  them  wore  shoes  with  hobnails  just  as  you  see 
on  this  old  cast-off  shoe  here.  A  third  one  had  on  American- 
made  brogans,  and  I  expect  they  hurt  him  some,  too,  be- 
cause he  was  limping  as  he  walked.  He  is  undoubtedly 
the  chap  who  used  to  own  these  old  foreign-made  gun- 
boats." 


PATHFINDER.  83 

"  Hold  on  a  minute,  please,  Elmer,"  pleaded  Red. 

"  All  right.  You  want  to  ask  me  something,  and  I 
think  I  know  what  it  is,"  remarked  the  other. 

"  You  say  this  fellow's  new  shoes  hurt  him,  and  made 
him  limp;  please  tell  us  how  in  the  wide  world  you  ever 
found  that  out?  "  Red  continued. 

"  Well,  it  might  be  possible  that  the  fellow  was  always 
lame,  but  his  tracks  show  plainly  that  he  limped.  Some- 
thing was  wrong  with  his  left  leg  or  foot,  because  the 
toe  dug  deeply  into  the  ground." 

"  Well,  I  declare  is  that  dead-sure  evidence,  Elmer?  " 
demanded  the  astounded  tenderfoot,  Landy,  who  was  lis- 
tening with  all  his  might  to  these  intensely  interesting 
facts  as  brought  out  by  the  scout  master. 

"  Try  it  yourself  sometime,  Landy,"  remarked  Elmer. 
"  Pick  out  a  nice  piece  of  ground  where  the  marks  will 
show  plainly.  Limp  as  naturally  as  you  can  with  the  left 
leg.  Then  go  back  and  examine  the  trail.  You  will  find 
that  not  only  does  the  left  foot  dig  deeper  at  the  toe  than 
the  right  one,  but  that  same  toe  drags  a  little  over  the 
ground  as  you  bring  the  left  foot  forward  each  time." 

"  Just  listen  to  that,  will  you!  "  remarked  Red,  "  but 
I  know  Elmer  is  right.  I  can  grab  the  principle  of  the 
thing." 

"  But  how  about  the  fourth  one,  Elmer;  seems  to  ma 
you've  been  holding  back  something  there,  that  you  mean  to 
spring  on  us, "  said  Lil  Artha. 

"  Well,  I  have,"  remarked  the  other,  quickly.  "  This 
fourth  track  was  smaller  than  the  others,  and  the  person 

also  wore  American-made  shoes." 
B  s— 30 


84  PATHFINDER. 

"  Ah,  a  boy,  eh?  "  asked  Red. 

The  scout  master  shook  his  head. 

' '  "Wrong  that  time,  my  boy.  You  '11  have  to  guess  again, 
I  reckon,"  he  said. 

"  Was  it  a  woman,  Elmer?  "  demanded  Lil  Artha. 

"  Just  what  it  was — an  Italian  woman,  squatty  like  most 
of  her  race;  and  I  should  say  between  fifty-five  and  sixty 
years  of  age, ' '  Elmer  replied,  soberly. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

SETTING  A   TRAP. 

AT  that  there  arose  new  exclamations  of  wonder,  as  well 
as  of  disbelief. 

' '  Oh,  come  off,  now, ' '  remarked  Red,  quite  forgetting  in 
his  amazement  the  respect  supposed  to  be  shown  for  an 
acting  scout  master,  even  though  in  the  private  walks  of 
life  he  might  only  be  a  fellow  playmate ;  ' '  you  can 't  ex- 
pect us  to  swallow  that,  now,  Elmer." 

"  Do  you  mean  about  the  woman's  height,  or  her  age?  " 
asked  the  other,  calmly. 

"  Why — er — both  I  guess,"  faltered  Red,  weakening  as 
he  saw  the  positive  front  of  the  other. 

"  Stop  and  think,  did  you  ever  see  any  other  than  a 
short,  squatty  woman  among  the  Italian  laborers?  And 
I  reckon  nobody  else  ever  did.  They  carry  heavy  burdens 
on  their  heads,  and  people  say  that's  one  reason  they're 
always  dumpy,"  Elmer  began. 


PATHFINDER.  85 

"  He's  right,  fellows,"  broke  out  Landy;  "  why,  I've 
seen  a  dago  woman  carrying  a  mattress,  a  stove  and  some 
chairs  on  her  head  all  at  the  same  time.  Gee,  looked  like 
a  two-legged  moving  van:" 

"  But  see  here,  you  notice  a  shelf  with  a  few  things  on 
it,  some  hairpins  among  the  lot.  It  was  built  unusually 
low,  so  she  could  reach  it.  And  what's  this  you  see  here, 
fellows?  A  piece  of  broken  looking  glass  fastened  to  the 
wall.  Notice  how  low  down  it  is  ?  No  man  ever  used  that 
glass,  you  can  depend  on  it;  and  the  woman  who  did  was 
surely  small,  wasn  't  she  now  1  ' ' 

"  A  regular  sawed-off, "  assented  Lil  Artha,  emphatically. 

"  Elmer's  sure  proved  his  point  there,  fellows,"  declared 
Red  Huggins,  grinning. 

' '  But  what  makes  you  think  the  woman  is  old,  Elmer  ?  ' ' 
asked  Landy,  curiously. 

"  That's  so;  how  in  the  wide  world  could  you  know  such 
a  thing  without  ever  seeing  her?  "  demanded  Toby. 

"  Nothing  could  be  easier,  fellows;  see  here!  " 

As  Elmer  spoke  he  reached  out  his  hand  and  took  some- 
thing off  the  low  shelf. 

Those  in  the  room  crowded  around,  fairly  wild  to  follow 
out  the  clever  deduction  of  their  young  leader. 

"  Why,  it's  a  comb,"  cried  one. 

"  Only  an  old  broken  comb,"  echoed  another,  with  a 
shade  of  uncertainty  in  his  voice. 

"  What  is  there  about  that  to  tell  you,  Elmer?  "  queried 
Red,  staring  first  at  the  article  in  question,  and  then  at 
the  smiling  scout  master. 

"  I  know,"  burst  out  Matty  just  then. 


86  PATHFINDER. 

"  Tell  us,"  pleaded  several. 

"  Yes,  throw  some  light  on  the  dark  mystery,"  added 
Lil  Artha,  ' '  because  to  the  untrained  eye  it 's  all  as  gloomy 
as  the  inside  of  my  pocket.  A  comb,  and  how  to  tell  a 
woman's  age  from  that!  Well,  I  own  up  beat." 

"  Why,  it's  as  easy  as  falling  off  a  log,  or  coming  down 
in  a  smash  when  you're  first  learning  how  to  fly,"  Matty 
began. 

"  Hey,  don't  you  drag  me  into  this  thing,"  spoke  up 
Toby,  whose  many  experiments  as  a  new  beginner  in  the 
science  of  aviation  had  usually  ended  in  his  enjoying  a 
disastrous  tumble. 

"  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  examine  the  comb,"  Matty 
went  on.  "  Then  you'll  find  that  it  holds  a  few  long  hairs, 
and,  fellows,  just  see  how  gray  they  are,  will  you?  " 

"  Well,  what  d'ye  think  of  that?  "  burst  out  Red.  "  And 
I  guess  we're  a  lot  of  chumps,  fellows,  not  to  have  seen 
through  it  before." 

"  Would  a  woman  be  among  anarchists,  Elmer?  "  de- 
manded Toby. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,"  came  the  reply.  "  Perhaps  so, 
though  not  as  a  usual  thing.  But  understand  that  I  haven't 
said  I  agreed  with  you  altogether,  when  you  gave  such  a 
hard  name  to  these  people." 

"  Then  you  don't  count  'em  as  Black  Hand  kidnapers, 
who  expect  to  raise  a  bully  good  sum  by  holding  our  pard, 
Nat  Scott,  for  ransom  ?  ' '  demanded  Red. 

"  I've  seen  nothing  to  tell  me  that's  the  way  matters 
stand,"  Elmer  commenced  saying,  "  and  several  things  seem 
to  say  just  the  opposite.  The  presence  of  the  woman,  and 


PATHFINDER.  87 

her  having  such  an  article  as  this  precious  string  of  beads 
don't  seem  to  go  along  with  such  a  thing  as  a  band  of 
rascals. ' ' 

"  Yes,  yes,  go  on,  Elmer,"  several  called  out. 

"  We  haven't  found  the  slightest  sign  of  a  bomb  fac- 
tory here,  or  even  a  book  teaching  how  to  bring  about  a 
revolution.  These  things  make  me  believe  that  these  three 
men  and  a  woman  may  not  be  such  terribly  hard  cases 
after  all." 

"  But  you  believe  they've  got  our  chum,  and  are  hold- 
ing him  a  prisoner,  don 't  you,  Elmer  ?  ' '  asked  Matty. 

' '  I  do  believe  it, ' '  Elmer  went  on.  ' '  In  fact  I  know  it, 
because  if  you  look  back  of  that  empty  box  yonder,  which 
they  use  for  a  table,  you'll  find  a  hat — Nat's  hat,  if  I'm 
not  mistaken." 

A  rush  was  made  for  the  box  in  question,  and  there  fol- 
lowed a  confusion  of  tongues,  as  half  a  dozen  fellows  tried 
to  talk  at  once. 

"  You  found  a  hat,  didn't  you?  "  demanded  Elmer. 

"  We  sure  did,  and  here  she  is,"  cried  Red,  holding  up 
the  article  in  question. 

"  It  looks  like  a  scout's  regulation  hat?  "  Elmer  re- 
marked. 

"  Which  nobody  could  deny,"  sang  Lil  Artha. 

"  And  as  every  scout  present  has  his  own  hat  on  his 
head  right  now,  it  stands  to  reason  this  couldn't  belong  to 
any  of  us,  eh,  fellows  ?  ' ' 

"  To  clinch  the  matter,  Elmer,"  observed  Matty,  "  if 
you  look  inside  the  hat  you'll  find  two  little  silver  letters 
fastened  there.  The  N.  S.  stands  for  Nathaniel  Scott." 


88  PATHFINDER. 

"  Well,  that  point  seems  proved.  Nat  was  here.  Per- 
haps in  wandering  about  he  struck  this  place.  But  the 
indications  are  he  was  captured  first,  and  brought  to  this 
shack. ' ' 

"  But,''  said  hasty  Red,  interrupting  Elmer,  "  if  you 
admit  that  these  Italians  have  made  our  pard  a  prisoner, 
how  can  you  say  they  are  net  bad  men,  thieves  wanted  by 
the  officers  of  the  law,  even  if  not  anarchists?  " 

"  Some  things  I  can  only  guess  at,  without  being  able 
to  explain  my  conviction.  But,  honestly,  fellows,  I  hardly 
think  these  people  are  as  bad  as  you  make  out.  I  know 
blackmail  is  practiced  over  in  Italy  a  lot.  And  that  one  of 
the  favorite  ways  to  get  money  is  to  kidnap  the  son  or 
daughter  of  a  rich  man,  and  demand  a  heavy  ransom.  But 
in  this  case  they  would  hardly  pick  Nat  Scott  for  a  pigeon 
to  be  plucked.  His  father  is  only  a  schoolmaster.  There 
are  others  here  who  would  <*eem  to  be  more  attractive  bait." 

' '  Hear,  hear !  ' '  cried  Lil  Artha,  casting  a  meaning  look 
in  the  direction  of  Larry  Billings,  whose  father,  being  a 
banker,  was  reckoned  the  richest  man  in  all  Hickory  Ridge. 

"  But  ain't  we  wasting  a  heap  cf  time  here?  "  asked 
Red,  impatient  as  always  to  be  doing  something. 

"  That's  just  what  I  was  saying  to  Ted  here,"  declared 
Larry,  whom  the  meaning  glance  of  Lil  Artha  had  plainly 
rendered  uneasy. 

"  You  may  think  so,"  remarked  Elmer,  "  but  this  is 
a  case  of  the  more  haste  the  less  speed.  I  reckon  it's  wise 
for  us  to  make  sure  about  the  character  of  these  Italians 
before  we  go  to  chasing  after  them.  They're  an  excitable 


PATHFINDER.  89 

lot,  you  know,  and  we  might  bring  on  trouble  that  could 
just  as  well  be  avoided  if  we  went  slow. ' ' 

Matty  looked  at  his  leader  sharply. 

"  Say,  see  here,  Elmer,"  he  remarked,  "  you  know,  or 
anyhow  you've  got  a  pretty  good  hunch,  who  these  people 
are?  " 

"  Why,  yes,  Italians,"  laughed  the  other. 

"  Now,  that  ain't  what  I  mean,"  Matty  went  on.  "  No 
dodging,  but  own  up." 

"  You're  wrong  there,"  Elmer  said.  "  I  don't  know, 
and  my  suspicions  so  far  are  founded  on  such  slight  evi- 
dence that  I  don't  care  to  commit  myself  before  the  whole 
of  you — yet. ' ' 

"  But  from  what  you  said  just  now,"  Matty  continued, 
"  you  don't  seem  to  agree  with  the  rest  of  us  when  we  call 
these  Italians  anarchists. ' ' 

' '  Because  there  hasn  't  been  a  solitary  thing  to  prove  it. 
We  pathfinders  must  always  discover  some  trace  of  the  trail, 
or  else  we'd  go  astray.  And  I've  owned  up  that  I'm  more 
than  half  inclined  to  believe  these  people  are  not  the  bad 
lot  you'd  make  out." 

"  But  they've  got  our  chum  a  prisoner,"  said  Red. 

* '  Looks  that  way, ' '  assented  Elmer,  cheerfully. 

"  And  honest  men  would  never  do  a  thing  like  that," 
declared  Red. 

"  Oh,  wouldn't  they?  "  replied  the  other.  "  Perhaps 
now  the  shoe  might  be  on  the  other  foot." 

"  Eh?  " 

"  And  perhaps  these  honest  people  might  suspect  that 
you  three  fellows  in  uniform  represented  the  great  United 


90  PATHFINDER. 

States  army  about  to  surround  them,  and  make  them  pris- 
oners because  they  had  been  occupying  private  property 
here  at  Munsey  's  mill. ' ' 

The  scouts  looked  at  one  another,  astonished.  Here  was 
a  theory  then  which  had  never  appealed  to  them  before. 

"  Well,  I  declare!  "  gasped  Red. 

"  Don't  it  just  beat  the  Dutch  how  he  gets  on  to  all 
these  things  ?  ' '  said  Lil  Artha. 

"  But,  Elmer,  why  take  poor  Nat  a  prisoner,  bottle  him 
up  so  he  couldn't  call  for  help,  fetch  him  to  this  old  shack, 
and  finally  carry  him  off  when  they  light  out?  " 

It  was  Matty  who  asked  this  question.  Elmer  smiled  and 
shook  his  head. 

"  I  can  figure  out  a  lot  of  things,"  he  said,  "  just  as 
I  can  read  Indian  writing;  but  please  don't  expect  me 
to  tell  you  what  people  think.  I  only  know  that  these  Ital- 
ians were  surely  frightened  at  the  sudden  appearance  of 
three  fellows  in  khaki,  and  that  they  probably  took  them 
for  soldiers.  They  must  have  had  some  idea  in  view  when 
they  captured  Nat,  and  hustled  him  to  this  shack.  Perhaps 
they  only  meant  to  hide  here  until  the  rest  of  us  had  gone." 

"  And  they  got  more  scared  when  you  sounded  that 
bugle,  I  reckon, ' '  remarked  Lil  Artha. 

' '  Yes,  and  then  the  coming  of  another  bunch  of  six  scouts 
may  have  made  them  believe  the  worst  was  about  to  hap- 
pen," Elmer  continued. 

"  Say,  I  thought  I  heard  low  voices  when  I  was  just 
going  to  peep  in  that  window  there,  and  the  bugle  called 
me  back  to  duty,"  Landy  spoke  up. 

"  Yes,"  Elmer  added;  "  and  it  may  be  the  coming  of 


PATHFINDER.  91 

Landy  just  finished  their  panic.  After  he  went  away  they 
must  have  vamosed  the  ranch  in  a  hurry." 

"  Well,  all  this  is  mighty  interesting,  sure,"  declared 
Red,  with  an  appreciative  nod,  "  but  it  ain't  bringing  us 
any  closer  to  finding  our  chum  Nat." 

"  Yes,  what's  the  programme,  Elmer?  "  asked  Chatz. 
"  Do  we  take  up  the  trail  right  away,  and  try  to  follow 
these  heah  rascals  to  their  new  camp  ?  You  can  count  on 
all  of  us,  suh,  to  do  the  troop  credit." 

"  There  may  be  another  way,"  remarked  Elmer,  who 
seemed  to  be  pondering  over  the  matter. 

"  Tell  us  about  it,  then,  please." 

"  Sometimes  it's  the  best  policy  to  hike  after  an  enemy 
as  fast  as  you  can  put.  Then  again,  there  are  other  times 
when  a  whole  lot  can  be  won  just  by  waiting  for  the  enemy 
to  come  to  you." 

"  That's  so,  fellows,"  declared  Matty;  "  I  see  what  El- 
mer means.  He  thinks  that  if  we  hid  out  here,  we'd  be 
able  to  bag  the  whole  blooming  crowd  soon. ' ' 

"  Sounds  all  right  in  theory,"  admitted  Red,  "  but  for 
one  I'd  like  to  know  why  Elmer  believes  that  push  will 
come  back  after  a  little." 

"  I  only  feel  pretty  sure  on  one  point,"  explained  the 
acting  scout  master.  "  And  that  concerns  the  woman 
alone. ' ' 

"  Meaning,  I  take  it,  that  you  think  they'll  send  her 
back,  the  cowards,  to  find  out  whether  the  coast  is  clear,'* 
ventured  Red. 

"  No,  they  will  never  have  to  send  her  back,  fellows," 
Elmer  went  on,  positively. 


92  PATHFINDER. 

"  Won't,  eh?  "  remarked  Lil  Artha. 

' '  I  firmly  believe  that  once  we  withdraw  from  this  same 
old  shack  the  woman  will  steal  back  of  her  own  free  will." 

"  To  get  her  precious  old  comb,  mebbe,"  sneered  Red. 

"  To  recover  something  which  I  guess  she  values  above 
ten  thousand  combs,"  and  Elmer  as  he  spoke  held  up  the 
string  of  beads  forming  the  rosary. 

"  In  her  hurry  to  get  away  she  must  have  forgotten  all 
about  this.  But  I  warrant  you,  fellows,  she 's  discovered  the 
loss  by  now.  What  follows  ?  She  makes  up  her  mind  that 
she's  just  got  to  return  and  find  it,  if  so  be  we  haven't 
taken  it  from  that  nail  where  it  was  hanging  when  we 
came  in." 

"Good!  You've  got  things  down  just  pat,  Elmer.  And 
then  what?  "  asked  Matty. 

"  I  expect  to  hide  near  by  while  the  rest  of  you  go 
noisily  away.  She  can't  know  how  many  came,  and  she'll 
think  all  have  departed.  Then,  when  she  comes  in  I'll 
make  her  a  prisoner.  Perhaps  they'll  be  glad  to  exchange 
Nat  for  their  woman.  Or  else,  if  we  can  make  her  under- 
stand that  we're  only  toy  soldiers,  and  mean  the  men  no 
harm,  she  will  lead  us  to  their  hide-out. ' ' 

The  scouts  were  listening  attentively,  as  they  always  did 
when  Elmer  was  talking.  He  possessed  such  a  fund  of 
interesting  information  that  they  knew  f ull  well  they  could 
learn  many  useful  things  by  trying  to  grasp  the  ideas  he 
advanced. 


PATHFINDER.  93 

CHAPTER   X. 

HOW   THE   TEAP  WORKED. 

"  THERE'S  only  one  thing  about  it  that  I  object  to  on 
general  principles,"  remarked  Mark. 

"  What's  that?  "  asked  Elmer. 

"  You  shouldn't  think  to  stay  here  alone,"  the  other 
went  on.  "  Perhaps  one  of  the  men  might  return  with 
the  woman — if  she  does  come." 

"  Yes,  that's  true;  there  is  a  chance,"  Elmer  admitted. 

"  Well,  you  see  how  you'd  be  up  against  it  then,"  Mark 
went  on,  earnestly.  ' '  A  savage  Italian  woman,  who  might 
have  a  knife  along,  would  be  bad  enough  for  one  fellow  to 
handle." 

<4  That's  so,  Mark." 

"  And  should  there  be  a  dago  man  along,  why,  I  guess 
you'd  just  have  to  sit  sucking  your  thumb  and  not  making 
a  move,"  Mark  continued. 

"  I  reckon  I  would,"  laughed  Elmer.  "  All  of  which 
means  that  you  think  I  ought  to  pick  out  a  couple  of  husky 
fellows  to  keep  me  company." 

"  That's  what  I'd  do." 

"  And  that  you  wouldn't  mind  being  one  of  the  same 
guards,  eh,  Mark?  " 

"I'd  enjoy  it  all  right,  Elmer." 

"  Well,  I'm  thinking  that  way  myself  now.  You  can 
hold  over  with  me,  then.  I'll  want  another  fellow,  too. 
Let's  see,"  and  he  glanced  at  the  eager  faces  by  which  he 
was  surrounded:  "  oh,  well,  Lil  Artha  will  be  the  other." 


94  PATHFINDER. 

' '  Oh,  shucks !  ' '  grumbled  Red,  bitterly  disappointed,  be- 
cause he  dearly  loved  action. 

"  Matty,"  said  the  acting  scout  master. 

"  On  deck,"  replied  the  leader  of  the  Beaver  Patrol, 
saluting. 

"  You  might  try  and  see  how  far  you've  gone  in  the  art 
of  following  a  trail.  I  don't  believe  these  rough  fellows 
know  the  first  thing  about  trying  to  hide  their  tracks,  so 
you  oughtn't  to  have  a  great  deal  of  trouble." 

"  Oh,  I  guess  I'd  be  equal  to  the  job  so  long  as  they 
keep  down  on  the  low  ground.  But  if  they  once  start  up 
the  side  of  the  hill,  where  it's  all  rocky,  I  reckon  my  cake 
will  be  dough,  then,  Elmer." 

"  Do  your  best,  anyhow,  Matty,"  the  scout  master  went 
on;  "  nobody  can  do  more.  But  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I 
believe  the  first  chance  lies  here. ' ' 

"  You  really  think,  then,  the  woman  will  return?  "  quer- 
ied Mark. 

'*  I  am  almost  dead  certain  of  it,"  Elmer  replied.  "  I've 
been  among  the  Italians  some  in  the  colony  they  have  on 
the  outskirts  of  our  town.  And  I  've  studied  them  more  or 
less.  They  seem  a  queer  people  to  us,  but  their  religion 
is  a  big  part  of  their  lives — at  least  that  goes  with  the 
women  part  of  the  settlement. ' ' 

"  I  think  you're  right,  Elmer,"  remarked  George,  who 
had  not  spoken  up  to  now;  "  I  happen  to  know  a  little 
about  the  Italians,  too,  because  my  father  employs  a  lot 
of  'em,  you  see.  "Wouldn't  be  surprised  one  bit  if  she 
sneaks  back  here  to  recover  those  beads.  They  mean  a  heap 
to  her,  fellows." 


PATHFINDER.  95 

Everybody  stared  to  hear  George  talk  like  that,  for  as  a 
rule  he  was  hard  to  convince ;  which  fact,  as  has  been  stated 
before, had  caused  him  to  be  known  as  "  Doubting  George." 

"  "Well,  let's  get  busy,"  suggested  Eed,  who,  if  he  could 
not  hold  over  to  assist  Elmer,  at  least  felt  that  the  sooner 
he  and  the  rest  started  on  the  trail  the  better. 

"  That's  the  stuff,"  added  Toby,  also  anxious  to  be  doing 
something,  he  cared  little  what. 

"  All  right,"  remarked  Elmer,  "  and,  as  a  first  move, 
suppose  you  fellows  begin  to  back  out  of  here.  Keep  in 
a  bunch  outside.  Mark,  you  an\i  Lil  Artha  watch  for  a 
chance  to  drop  down  in  the  bushes,  and  lie  as  quiet  as 
church  mice  till  I  give  the  signal,  which  will  be  a  whistle. 
Understand?  " 

"  Sure,"  replied  Lil  Artha,  pausing  in  the  doorway  to 
watch  Elmer  hang  up  the  beads  again  on  the  nail  where 
he  had  found  them;  "  but  why  ought  we  be  so  particular 
about  dropping  out  of  sight,  if  you  don't  mind  telling  us?  " 

"  Well,  it  might  be  the  woman  has  already  returned,  and 
is  hiding  somewhere  close  by,  waiting  for  the  crowd  to 
move." 

"  That's  so,"  admitted  Lil  Artha, 

"  And  of  course  if  she  even  suspected  that  any  of  us 
hung  out  she  wouldn't  try  to  enter  the  shack  at  all,"  Elmer 
pursued. 

"  Then  well  have  to  be  mighty  careful,  Mark,  how  we 
do  the  great  vanishing  act,"  the  tall  scout  remarked. 

"  Wait  till  the  boys  happen  to  bunch  around  you,  then 
just  drop,  and  let  them  go  on.  But  Mark,  as  you  will  be 
the  last  one  out,  suppose  you  close  the  door  after  you,  just 
as  if  the  shack  were  empty." 


06  PATHFINDER. 

"  Are  you  expecting  to  hide  behind  that  box,  Elmer?  * 
demanded  his  chum,  pointing  to  the  affair  that  had  evi 
dently  served  as  a  rude  table. 

"  Just  what  I  am,"  replied  the  other,  promptly. 

"  Oh,  I  see." 

And  with  one  last  look  around,  Mark  advanced  toward 
the  exit,  beyond  which  the  scouts  could  be  seen  talking  and 
gesturing  as  Matty  looked  for  the  trail  left  when  the  Ital- 
ians fled  in  such  haste. 

Evidently  it  was  Mark's  idea  to  take  a  good  mental  im- 
pression of  the  interior  of  the  shack  away  with  him.  This 
would  prove  useful  in  case  there  arose  a  sudden  necessity 
for  his  presence,  and  that  of  Lil  Artha,  on  the  scene  of 
action. 

When  the  last  of  his  companions  had  gone,  and  the  rough 
door  of  the  shack  was  swung  shut,  Elmer  hastened  to  softly 
move  the  big  box  a  little,  so  that  it  might  suit  his  purpose 
better. 

He  did  not  imagine  that  this  would  appear  suspicious 
in  the  eyes  of  the  woman,  should  she  return  for  her  rosary, 
because  it  was  to  be  expected  that  in  a  search  of  the  cabin 
such  changes  were  apt  to  take  place. 

He  could  still  hear  the  chatter  of  many  voices  outside, 
but  they  were  growing  fainter.  Evidently  Matty  must  have 
found  the  trail  he  wanted,  showing  where  the  four  Italians, 
together  with  their  prisoner,  had  left  the  concealed  shack. 

So,  knowing  the  value  of  time  in  an  affair  like  this, 
Elmer  hastened  to  crawl  behind  the  big  box. 

Anyone  entering  the  room  could  not  see  him,  nor  would 
his  crouching  form  be  visible  from  the  hole  in  the  shack 
intended  as  a  window. 


PATHFINDER.  97 

At  the  same  time  Elmer  had  so  contrived  things  that, 
by  making  use  of  an  old  bunch  of  straw  which  he  allowed 
to  hang  over  the  edge  of  the  table,  he  was  easily  able  to 
keep  watch  upon  both  openings,  the  window  and  the  door. 

Then  he  waited  patiently  for  something  to  happen. 

Some  minutes  passed. 

Outside  all  seemed  as  quiet  as  a  Sunday  in  Hickory 
Ridge. 

The  sound  of  boyish  voices  had  utterly  died  away,  prov- 
ing that  Matty  must  be  showing  considerable  skill  in  lead- 
ing his  detachment  along  a  trail. 

Indeed,  once  the  presence  of  human  beings  no  longer 
acted  as  a  disturbing  element,  a  little  frisky  red  squirrel 
hopped  up  in  the  open  window  and  peeped  within  the  shack. 

Perhaps  the  little  chap  was  more  or  less  at  home  there. 
At  any  rate  Elmer  was  pleased  to  see  him  sit  up  on  his 
haunches  and  begin  to  gnaw  at  a  stray  nut  he  had  evi- 
dently discovered. 

To  his  mind  the  red  squirrel  was  apt  to  serve  in  place 
of  a  vidette.  Should  anyone  approach  the  shack  now  the 
little  nut-cracker  would  give  warning  by  frisking  away  in 
sudden  alarm. 

So  the  wide-awake  scout  finds  opportunities  to  make  use 
of  the  most  ordinary  and  commonplace  things  to  be  met 
with  in  the  woods. 

Everything  may  have  a  meaning,  if  only  the  scout  pos- 
sesses the  key  of  knowledge  so  necessary  for  the  unlocking 
of  the  door. 

Not  moving  a  finger  Elmer  simply  awaited  the  turn  of 
events. 


98  PATHFINDER. 

And  not  once  did  he  doubt  the  outcome,  so  positive  was 
he  that  his  reasoning  must  be  correct. 

If  the  woman  returned  alone,  he  believed  they  ought  to 
easily  take  her  prisoner;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  should 
one  or  more  of  the  men  accompany  her,  he  must  expect 
the  conditions  to  be  changed,  and  alter  his  own  plans  in 
consequence. 

Two  minutes  most  have  gone  by  now. 

Elmer  was  not  simply  guessing  this,  or,  as  Lil  Artha 
would  say, ' '  making  a  blind  stab  at  it. ' '  He  knew  because, 
as  he  crouched  there  watching,  he  was  continually  marking 
the  flight  of  time  by  counting  to  himself. 

In  imagination  his  gaze  followed  the  swinging  pendu- 
lum of  the  big  grandfather  clock  that  stood  in  the  hall 
of  his  home. 

"  Tick,  tick,  tick!  "  he  could  see  it  go  back  and  forth, 
each  movement  marking  the  passing  of  another  second  of 
precious  time. 

Ah!  the  squirrel  had  ceased  to  work  at  his  nut  now, 
He  even  gave  signs  of  sudden  alarm,  as  though  his  keen 
little  ratlike  ears  had  caught  a  foreign  sound  indicating 
the  coming  of  a  human  being. 

And  yet  Elmer  knew  positively  that  he  himself  had  not 
moved  in  the  slightest  degree,  so  that  the  squirrel's  panic 
could  not  be  laid  at  his  door. 

"  I  guess  something's  going  to  happen,"  he  thought, 
"  unless  either  Mark  or  Lil  Artha  showed  themselves  reck- 
lessly; and  I  don't  believe  they'd  do  it." 

He  continued  to  watch  his  four-footed  little  sentinel 
perched  up  there  in  the  apology  for  a  window. 


PATHFINDER.  99 

Even  as  he  looked  the  timid  squirrel  vanished  as  sud- 
denly as  it  had  appeared. 

Elmer  only  silently  chuckled,  quite  satisfied  with  the 
way  things  were  working. 

And  he  somehow  still  continued  to  keep  his  eyes  glued 
on  that  hole  in  the  wall,  as  though  laboring  under  the 
impression  that  when  the  Italian  woman  did  come  she  would 
first  of  all  appear  in  that  particular  quarter. 

And  he  was  right. 

Even  as  he  looked  he  discovered  a  suspicious  movement 
in  the  gap.  This  was  brought  about  by  the  uplifting  of 
a  human  hand,  upon  the  fingers  of  which  he  could  count 
at  least  five  broad  rings  without  settings. 

Perhaps  the  owner  of  that  hand  was  on  her  knees,  and 
in  this  manner  sought  to  rise  up. 

Elmer,  still  looking,  saw  a  head  presently  fill  part  of 
the  crude  window. 

It  was  a  woman  who  stared  in,  there  could  be  no  ques- 
tioning that  fact.  And  so  far  as  he  could  tell  she  seemed 
to  be  alone,  for  he  neither  saw  nor  heard  any  sign  of  a 
second  party. 

Once  he  knew  her  burning  gaze  was  fastened  upon  the 
bunch  of  straw  which  he  had  arranged  so  as  to  serve  as  a 
veil,  back  of  which  he  might  continue  to  watch  what  was 
taking  place. 

Elmer  fairly  held  his  breath,  fearing  that  she  might 
have  discovered  the  lurker,  or  at  least  entertained  suspicions 
regarding  his  presence  there. 

But  not  so. 

Her  eyes,  having  swept  back  and  forth  until  they  had 
BS— 31 


100  PATHFINDER. 

fairly  covered  the  whole  interior  of  the  dimly  lighted  shack, 
seemed  to  be  attracted  toward  one  particular  spot. 

This  was  where  the  string  of  beads  hung  from  the  nail 
driven  into  a  log. 

It  was  the  lodestone  which  had  served  to  draw  this 
woman  once  more  into  the  danger  zone. 

And  from  that  instant,  if  Elmer  had  allowed  the  slightest 
doubt  to  creep  into  his  mind  before,  it  no  longer  found 
lodgment  there. 

The  woman  was  bound  to  enter  in  order  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  that  precious  string  of  beads. 

Once  she  thrust  her  head  and  shoulders  through  the 
opening  and  attempted  to  clutch  the  rosary,  but  the  effort 
was  useless. 

'  *  Now  she  is  coming !  ' ' 

Elmer  whispered  this  to  himself  as  he  saw  that  the 
woman  no  longer  occupied  the  opening — she  had  undoubt- 
edly started  for  the  door. 

Yes,  now  he  could  see  the  closed  door  begin  to  quiver, 
as  though  eager  hands  had  started  to  open  it. 

Elmer  held  his  breath  with  eagerness,  and  all  the  while 
watched  the  door. 

Between  his  strong  teeth  the  scout  master  held  a  little 
German  silver  whistle,  such  as  patrol  leaders  usually  carry 
for  signaling  purposes. 

This  he  expected  to  sound  when  the  time  was  ripe,  and 
he  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  his  two  comrades  would 
rush  into  the  shack  the  very  instant  they  heard  the  call. 

Now  the  door  was  surely  opening  wider.  Even  in  her 
hurry  the  Italian  woman  did  not  forget  the  need  of  due 


PATHFINDER.  101 

caution  when  all  these  enemies  seemed  to  be  hanging 
around. 

Her  experiences  across  the  ocean  may  have  made  her 
exceedingly  ill  disposed  to  trust  anything  that  wore  a 
uniform. 

Yes,  the  door  had  given  way  by  now  to  admit  a  moving 
figure,  and  then  it  was  drawn  shut  again. 

Elmer  smiled  to  see  how  closely  his  guess  had  come  to 
the  actual  truth.  The  Italian  woman  was  not  only  squatty, 
and  "  broad  of  beam,"  as  Lil  Artha  would  have  put  it, 
but,  as  Elmer  had  said,  might  be  close  on  sixty  years  of 
age,  for  she  had  many  wrinkles,  and  her  hair  was  certainly 
gray. 

She  left  the  door  unfastened  behind  her.  Elmer  chuckled 
to  himself  under  his  breath,  for  he  saw  that  in  doing  this 
the  woman  had  not  only  left  a  way  of  speedy  escape  open 
for  herself  in  case  of  necessity,  but  also  a  free  passage  for 
the  scouts  when  the  signal  whistle  blew. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

RUN   DOWN. 

STRAIGHT  across  the  floor  of  the  shack  glided  the  woman. 

She  was  making  a  bee  line  for  the  string  of  beads  with 
the  little  silver  cross  at  the  double  end. 

And  the  hidden  scout  could  hear  the  low  words  of  mu- 
sical Italian  flowing  from  her  lips  when  she  reached  out  an 
eager  hand  to  seize  upon  the  sacred  article. 


102  PATHFINDER. 

Now  was  his  time. 

The  critical  moment  had  arrived  when  he  must  proceed 
to  spring  his  trap. 

As  silently  as  he  could,  then,  Elmer  arose  to  his  feet. 
He  was  behind  the  woman  and  could  never  bring  himself 
to  believe  that  he  had  made  even  the  slightest  sound  when 
rising. 

Then  the  only  explanation  left  was  that  the  woman  hap- 
pened to  be  in  front  of  the  broken  looking  glass  at  the  mo- 
ment, bent  on  fastening  the  beads  about  her  thick  neck. 
And  if  so,  she  must  have  discovered  him  as  he  arose  from 
behind  the  big  box. 

At  any  rate  she  uttered  a  cry  that  to  his  mind  was  not 
unlike  the  snarl  of  a  wild  beast.  He  saw  the  almost  sav- 
age look  that  came  over  her  swarthy  face,  and  knew  that 
after  all,  such  a  woman  was  fully  as  much  to  be  feared  as 
the  stoutest  ladrone. 

And  so  Elmer  did  not  think  it  was  unworthy  of  a  true 
scout  to  send  out  the  call  for  help. 

The  woman  might  be  disposed  to  defy  just  one  half- 
grown  lad,  whereas  if  she  believed  herself  to  be  up  against 
the  whole  troop  she  would  submit  with  the  best  grace  she 
could  command. 

And  so  he  blew  a  shrill  blast  that  must  bring  both  Mark 
and  Lil  Artha  dashing  to  the  spot. 

The  effect  upon  the  woman  was  rather  surprising. 

Perhaps  Elmer  might  have  expected  seeing  her  cower 
down,  seized  with  a  sudden  overwhelming  fear,  but  nothing 
of  the  kind  occurred. 

To  his  surprise  she  snatched  out  a  wicked-looking  knife 


PATHFINDER.  103 

from  the  bosom  of  her  dress.  It  looked  to  Elmer  like  a 
broken  kitchen  knife  that  had  been  ground  down  to  a 
point.  With  such  a  blade  he  remembered  seeing  the  Ital- 
ian women  from  the  settlement  just  outside  Hickory  Ridge 
wandering  around  in  the  early  spring,  digging  dandelion 
plants  for  ' '  greens. ' ' 

He  could  hear  the  rush  of  approaching  footsteps  even 
as  the  woman  sprang  for  the  door  with  a  wild  look  on  her 
face. 

The  other  two  scouts  had  of  course  caught  his  shrill 
signal,  and  were  hastening  to  join  their  leader. 

Undoubtedly  both  Mark  and  Lil  Artha  must  have  seen 
the  woman,  if  not  while  she  was  looking  in  at  the  window, 
then  when  she  turned  the  corner  of  the  hidden  shack  to 
enter  by  the  door. 

And  hence  they  would  surely  understand  that  there  was 
no  man  opposed  to  their  combined  force. 

The  fact  of  the  woman  being  armed  with  so  terrible  a 
•weapon  as  a  knife,  and  that  look  of  grim  determination 
on  her  dark  face,  alarmed  Elmer. 

"What  if  she  attacked  the  two  scouts — what  if  in  her  sud- 
den panic  she  wounded  either  of  his  chums  ?  There  could  be 
no  telling  what  a  fear-crazed,  ignorant  woman,  strong  as 
an  ox,  and  almost  as  irresponsible,  might  do  in  an  emergency 
like  this. 

Of  course  he  would  have  only  been  too  well  pleased 
could  he  have  shown  the  woman  that  it  was  all  a  mistake, 
and  that  they  meant  her  no  ill. 

But  with  her  brandishing  that  wicked-looking  knife  and 
leaping  for  the  door,  there  was  certainly  no  opportunity 
for  argument. 


104  PATHFINDEE. 

Elmer  sprang  forward. 

His  main  idea  was  to  try  and  knock  that  blade  from  her 
grasp  by  striking  sharply  on  her  arm  or  her  knuckles. 

At  the  same  time  he  thought  to  warn  the  other  scouts, 
so  that  they  might  take  due  precautions  when  sudden]  y 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  Italian  woman  who  was  run- 
ning amuck. 

Perhaps  when  they  heard  him  shout  they  would  just 
naturally  believe  he  was  being  hard  pressed.  And  in  that 
case,  instead  of  deterring  them,  his  cries  would  only  fur- 
ther spur  the  others  on. 

Nevertheless  Elmer  lifted  his  voice  in  warning: 

' '  Look  out,  boys !  She 's  got  a  knife,  and  is  coming  out 
at  you!  Take  care  there!  " 

'Just  then  something  happened. 

The  woman  had  not  turned  her  head  as  Elmer  thus  gave 
tongue,  as  might  a  hound  on  the  warm  trail  of  the  fox. 

She  kept  straight  on.  The  door  was  before  her,  and 
while  she  had  drawn  it  shut  after  entering,  it  has  been 
mentioned  before  that  she  made  no  attempt  to  fasten  the 
same. 

So  now,  when  she  hurled  her  whole  weight  against  the 
barrier  it  flew  outward  with  a  jump. 

As  luck  would  have  it,  the  two  scouts  had  managed  to 
reach  the  door  at  exactly  the  same  time.  And  that  second 
chanced  to  be  the  identical  one  when  the  frightened  for- 
eigner crashed  into  the  door. 

There  could  only  be  one  result,  and  that  filled  with  bit- 
terness and  woe  to  both  Lil  Artha  and  Mark.  As  the 
uncouth  door  was  thrown  suddenly  outward,  as  if  forced 


PATHFINDER.  105 

by  a  battering  ram  from  within,  it  struck  the  scouts  a  tre- 
mendous blow. 

They  crumpled  up  and  went  over.  A  couple  of  ten- 
pins struck  by  a  swiftly  hurled  ball  could  hardly  have  col- 
lapsed more  ingloriously  than  did  Lil  Artha  and  his  mate. 

Indeed,  the  long-legged  scout  seemed  to  perform  a  com- 
plete revolution  in  the  air,  landing  on  his  knees  among 
the  bushes. 

Two  seconds  later,  when  Elmer  dashed  out  of  the  shack, 
this  was  the  astonishing  spectacle  he  saw — the  woman  run- 
ning away  as  best  her  bulk  allowed,  casting  glances  that 
were  half  frightened,  half  triumphant,  behind  her;  while 
Mark  was  sitting  up,  rubbing  a  bump  on  his  forehead  rue- 
fully, and  Lil  Artha  had  taken  out  a  handkerchief  to  dab 
at  his  bleeding  nose. 

Still,  nothing  short  of  an  earthquake  could  ever  bottle 
up  the  flow  of  animal  spirits  that  usually  possessed  the 
lanky  one. 

While  he  applied  his  handkerchief  until  it  looked  par- 
ticularly gory,  he  was  bent  upon  giving  expression  to  his 
views. 

' '  Wow !  and  again  I  say,  wow !  What  cyclone  was  that 
we  ran  up  against,  Elmer?  Did  you  let  fly  with  that  club 
of  yours,  or  did  the  old  shack  just  take  a  notion  to  fall 
over  on  us?  It  felt  like  I  was  being  kicked  by  an  army 
mule. ' ' 

"  Same  here,  Elmer,"  lamented  Mark,  as  he  succeeded 
in  struggling  to  his  feet. 

"Well,  it  wasn't  anything  like  that  at  all,"  declared 
Elmer,  hastily;  "  and  if  you  take  the  trouble  to  look 


106  PATHFINDER. 

yonder,  before  your  eyes  begin  to  close  up,  you'll  see  what 
hit  you,  running  away  like  a  scared  hippopotamus. ' ' 

' '  Glory  be !  Was  it  that  dago  woman  ?  ' '  yelled  Lil  Ar- 
tha,  now  on  his  feet  again. 

"  Yes,  she  burst  the  door  open  when  she  saw  me,  and  as 
you  chanced  to  be  in  the  way,  why,  you  got  the  benefit, 
that's  all,"  Elmer  remarked. 

"Don't  let  her  get  away,  fellows!  Come  on,  who's 
afraid?  We  can  cover  three  feet  to  her  one.  Let's  make 
her  a  prisoner,"  shouted  Lil  Artha,  whose  usually  even 
temper  seemed  to  have  been  decidedly  ruffled  by  his  recent 
mishap. 

So  the  three  scouts  left  the  shack  and  began  to  rush 
after  the  fleeing  Italian  woman. 

Of  course  she  knew  immediately  that  she  was  being  pur- 
sued. She  tried  to  increase  her  pace,  but  evidently  with 
little  success.  Short,  dumpy  people  can  never  hope  to 
compete  with  slim,  long-legged  greyhounds  like  Lil  Artha. 

And  so,  almost  from  the  start,  the  three  scouts  began  to 
close  in  upon  the  fleeing  Italian  woman. 

"  Say,  she's  got  a  bloody  old  knife,"  gasped  Lil  Artha, 
as  they  struggled  on  through  the  woods  where  the  creep- 
ing vines  and  the  underbrush,  not  to  mention  frequent 
logs  and  occasional  woodchuck  holes,  made  running  a  des- 
perate business. 

"  That's  so,  Elmer,"  piped  up  Mark,  "  I  saw  her  shake 
it  at  us  then." 

"  I  know  it,  fellows,"  said  the  scout  master,  "  and  that's 
what  I  was  shouting  about,  to  warn  you." 

"  Are  we  gaining  any,  Elmer?    I  can't  see  just  as  well 


PATHFINDER.  107 

as  I M  like,  with  this  thing  up  to  my  nose, ' '  the  lanky  run- 
ner asked. 

' '  Pulling  up  on  her  fast,  my  boy, ' '  came  the  reassuring 
answer. 

"  And  what 're  we  goin'  to  do  when  she  turns  on  us?  " 
demanded  Lil  Artha. 

"  First  of  all,  surround  her." 

"  That  sounds  good  as  far  as  she  goes.    What  next?  " 

"  "We  must  try  and  knock  that  nasty  thing  out  of  her 
hand  by  a  sharp  blow  on  the  arm,"  continued  Elmer,  who 
strangely  enough  seemed  as  cool  as  a  cucumber,  while 
both  of  his  companions  showed  the  effect  of  the  mad  pace. 

"  I  tumble  to  it,  Elmer,"  gasped  Lil  Artha,  "  and  I'm 
the  fellow  to  give  that  lovely  little  tap.  I  made  Eed  drop 
his  stick  seven  times  when  we  were  having  a  bout  with 
long  sticks,  and  which  we  pretended  were  the  old-style 
quarterstaves. ' ' 

Even  the  long-legged  Lil  Artha  must  see  now  that  the 
distance  separating  the  pursuers  from  the  fugitive  had  been 
greatly  shortened.  Another  five  minutes  would  see  them 
overhaul  the  woman,  unless  something  not  down  on  the 
bills  came  to  pass. 

Five  minutes — why  there  would  surely  be  ample  time  to 
bring  this  result  about,  judging  by  the  way  they  were  cov- 
ering two  yards  to  her  one. 

The  woman  knew  it,  too. 

She  was  becoming  more  and  more  anxious.  This  was 
shown  by  the  way  she  kept  turning  her  head  from  time 
to  time  as  she  ran. 

Elmer  knew  what  was  apt  to  happen.     For  himself  he 


-108  PATHFINDER. 

found  that  he  had  need  of  both  his  eyes  with  every  step 
forward  he  took  through  that  tangle,  where  trailing  vines 
lay  in  wait  to  trip  him  up,  and  branches  hung  low  as  if 
seeking  to  catch  in  his  hair,  to  make  him  another  Absalom. 

Already  had  Lil  Artha  gone  down  with  a  thud,  but  as 
he  said  himself,  his  "  dander  "  was  aroused,  and  no  little 
things  like  this  could  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  his  pur- 
suit. 

So  he  had  hastily  scrambled  to  his  feet  and  followed  at 
the  heels  of  his  more  fortunate  chums,  a  sight  calculated 
to  excite  wild  laughter  among  the  rest  of  the  troop,  with 
his  blood-flecked  face. 

At  any  rate  Lil  Artha  was  game  to  the  backbone,  and 
Elmer  often  remembered  it  afterward  when  "  trying  out  " 
his  scouts. 

The  closer  they  drew  to  the  fleeing  woman  the  greater 
her  fright  seemed  to  become. 

Whenever  he  saw  her  looking  backward  over  her  shoulder 
Elmer  would  make  pantomime  gestures  with  his  free  hand. 

He  was  trying  the  best  he  knew  how  to  tell  her  to  give 
over  this  foolish  flight,  and  that  they  had  no  hostile  in- 
tentions. 

But  the  chances  were  she  interpreted  these  movements 
just  the  other  way,  and  believed  he  must  be  threatening 
her  with  all  sorts  of  terrible  things  unless  she  yielded  her- 
self a  prisoner  to  their  prowess. 

Well,  no  matter,  it  could  hardly  last  more  than  another 
minute  or  so.  Do  what  she  would  the  woman  must  find  it 
utterly  impossible  to  get  away. 

Already  the  active  mind  of  the  young  scout  master  was 


PATHFINDER.  109 

busy,  weaving  a  clever  scheme  by  means  of  which,  they 
could  surround  the  woman,  and  by  attacking  her  all  at 
once,  succeed  in  knocking  the  shining  knife  out  of  her 
hand. 

No  doubt  he  would  have  succeeded  in  doing  the  job, 
too,  had  conditions  continued  to  make  such  a  move  neces- 
sary. 

But  they  did  not. 

The  fickle  hand  of  Fate  came  in  between  just  in  time  to 
share  in  the  matter. 

It  seemed  to  Elmer  that  they  were  constantly  getting 
into  a  more  tangled  mess  of  undergrowth.  All  around  and 
ahead  were  traps  calculated  to  slyly  catch  unwary  feet  and 
trip  them  up. 

Suddenly  Elmer  gave  vent  to  a  low  gasping  cry;  but 
while  Mark  involuntarily  turned  his  head  to  learn  if  his 
companion  had  gone  lame,  to  his  surprise  and  gratification 
he  found  the  other  running  as  smoothly  and  easily  as  ever, 
as  though  perfectly  fresh. 

"  The  woman!  "  shrieked  Lil  Artha,  who,  apparently, 
from  his  position  in  the  rear  had  been  enabled  to  see  just 
what  had  happened. 

"  Where — is — she?  "  gasped  Mark,  once  more  allowing 
his  eyes  to  travel  ahead. 

For,  apparently,  the  fleeing  Italian  had  vanished  at  that 
instant,  as  completely  as  though  the  earth  had  opened  and 
swallowed  her  up. 

' '  She 's  down — caught  her  foot  in  a  root !  ' '  cried  Elmer, 
not  slackening  his  warm  pace,  for  he  wanted  to  make  a 
quick  job  of  the  thing. 


110  PATHFINDER. 

Then  Mark  saw  that  some  object  was  threshing  the  bushes 
furiously.  Twice  the  woman  tried  to  rise,  but  on  each  oc- 
casion she  fell  back  again. 

Then  presently  he  gave  a  shout  as  he  guessed  the  true 
situation. 

"  She's  caught  fast  in  a  vine,  Elmer.  Even  the  woods 
work  with  us !  I  tell  you  she 's  a  prisoner  right  now !  All 
we  Ve  got  to  do  is  to  tie  her  hands !  ' ' 

"  But  look  out  for  that  dandelion  knife,  boys,"  warned 
Elmer,  as  the  three  of  them  reached  the  spot. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  LANGUAGE   OF   SIGNS. 

IT  happened  just  as  the  boys  had  expected.  While  turn- 
ing her  head  so  often  to  see  how  near  these  persistent  pur- 
suers were,  the  woman  had  caught  her  foot  in  a  stout  vine. 

She  had  been  hurled  to  the  ground  with  considerable 
force,  but  apparently  received  no  serious  injury.  When 
she  tried  to  regain  her  feet,  however,  on  each  occasion  the 
clinging  T;ine  refused  to  release  its  hold.  As  a  consequence 
she  went  down  again. 

Finally,  as  though  realizing  the  uselessness  of  further 
struggling  against  Fate,  the  woman  stopped  trying  to  get 
up. 

Having  twisted  around  in  some  manner,  she  just  sat  there 
and  stared  at  the  three  boys  in  khaki. 

"  Now  she's  wondering  what  we're  going  to  do,"  said 
Mark,  as  they  stood  with  the  woman  between  them. 


PATHFINDER.  Ill 

"  Yes,  she's  frightened  again,  poor  thing,"  remarked 
Elmer.  "  I'm  afraid  it's  these  uniforms  that  have  done  it. 
She  surely  takes  us  for  soldiers,  and  thinks  we've  come 
here  just  to  arrest  the  whole  bunch." 

"I'm  glad  of  one  thing,  though,"  said  Lil  Artha. 

"  What  might  that  be?  "  asked  Elmer. 

"  Looks  like  she  must  have  dropped  that  fierce  frog 
sticker  when  she  fell,  because  you  notice  she  hasn  't  got  the 
old  knife  in  her  claws  just  now." 

"  That's  right,"  admitted  Mark,  cheerfully,  for  the  fact 
naturally  pleased  him. 

"  And  here  it  is,  right  at  my  feet,"  said  Elmer,  as  he 
stooped  and  took  something  from  the  ground. 

It  was  the  knife  which  the  Italian  woman  had  flourished 
so  recklessly. 

"My  stars,  what  a  savage-looking  thing!  "  ejaculated 
Lil  Artha,  as  he  stared  at  the  knife. 

"  Well,  it  does  look  wicked  for  a  fact,"  remarked  Elmer; 
"  but  after  all,  I  reckon  she's  never  done  anything  with  it 
but  cut  dandelion  greens,  or  else  prepared  fish, ' '  and  he  took 
occasion  to  bring  the  blade  close  to  his  nose  while  speak- 
ing, only  to  make  a  face,  as  though  the  fishy  odor  that  clung 
to  the  steel  might  be  far  from  pleasant. 

' '  Well,  we  've  overhauled  the  lady ;  now  whatever  are 
we  going  to  do  with  her?  "  demanded  the  tall  scout. 

"  I  wonder  if  she  understands  English?  "  remarked 
Elmer. 

' '  Try  her  and  see, ' '  Mark  suggested. 

The  woman  had  been  watching  them  keenly  all  this  while. 
Her  manner  suggested  that  she  might  be  trying  to  read  her 


112  PATHFINDER. 

fate  more  from  their  actions  than  any  words  which  they 
would  let  fall. 

Accordingly,  Elmer  stepped  forward  a  pace. 

"  No  hurt,"  he  said,  in  the  gentlest  tone  he  could  mus- 
ter; "  friends — boys — no  soldiers." 

"  She  don't  savvy  worth  a  cent,  Elmer,"  said  Lil  Ar- 
tha,  in  disgust. 

' '  And  her  eyes  keep  following  your  movements  with  the 
knife,  as  if  she  thought  yo  i  meant  to  strike  her, ' '  observed 
Mark. 

Elmer  himself  saw  that  this  was  a  fact.  Plainly,  then, 
the  woman  could  not  understand  English,  and  in  her  pres- 
ent state  of  fright  she  seemed  incapable  of  reading  his 
reassuring  gestures.  What  he  meant  to  be  a  sign  of  friend- 
liness she  interpreted  as  a  symbol  of  hostility. 

"  Seems  to  me  we  ought  first  of  all  to  get  her  foot  free 
from  that  nasty  tangle, ' '  he  remarked. 

"  Sure,  and  I  guess  the  only  way  to  do  it  is  to  cut  the 
plagued  old  vine, ' '  said  Lil  Artha.  ' '  But  I  guess  I  hadn  't 
ought  to  run  the  thing  down,  because  it  served  us  a  mighty 
good  turn  just  now." 

"  Step  in  and  cut  the  vine,  Elmer,"  suggested  Mark. 

"When,  however,  the  young  scout  master  had  taken  a 
step  or  two  forward,  knife  in  hand,  the  woman's  fears 
were  once  more  aroused. 

She  threw  herself  forward,  struggling  violently  to  release 
her  trapped  foot.  But  Ae  vine  proved  as  strong  as  a  new 
clothesline,  and  held  tenaciously. 

* '  Good  gracious,  what  a  silly  goose !  ' '  exclaimed  Lil  Ar- 
tha, ' '  when  all  we  want  to  do  is  to  set  her  free. ' ' 


PATHFINDER  113 

"  But  you  see  she  don't  look  at  it  that  way.  The  poor 
creature  thinks  we're  conspiring  to  turn  the  tables  on  her, 
just  because  she  threatened  us  with  this  knife.  Here,  hold 
it,  Mark." 

Elmer  handed  over  the  knife  to  his  chum  at  a  moment 
when  he  saw  that  the  woman 's  eyes  were  fastened  upon  him. 

Then  he  held  up  both  his  hands  as  he  smiled  reassuringly. 
It  was  the  universal  "  peace  sign  "  known  throughout  the 
world.  Hardly  a  savage  tribe  in  the  heart  of  Darkest  Af- 
rica but  would  recognize  the  meaning  it  expressed. 

This  time  when  he  advanced  the  Italian  woman  did  not 
struggle  again.  She  watched  him.  Curiosity  was  overcom- 
ing fear.  Perhaps  she  had  even  begun  to  realize  that  these 
dreadful  soldiers  did  not  present  such  a  savage  front 
after  all. 

So  Elmer  dropped  down  on  his  knees,  at  a  point  where 
he  could  come  in  contact  with  her  imprisoned  foot,  and 
the  wiry  vine  that  gripped  it. 

A  brief  examination  convinced  him  that  since  she  had 
turned  around  several  times  during  her  violent  struggle  to 
break  away,  the  only  means  of  freeing  the  entrapped  foot 
was  to  cut  the  vine. 

Of  course  that  meant  the  knife  again,  and  if  he  asked 
Mark  to  hand  it  to  him,  possibly  the  foolish  foreigner  would 
have  another  fit  of  terror. 

So  Elmer  commenced  to  use  tact  again. 

First  of  all  he  commenced  to  work  at  the  vine,  the  woman 
watching  him  eagerly. 

"  No  use,  pardner,"  remarked  Lil  Artha.  "  That  thing 
is  like  steel  bands,  and  the  old  woman  has  managed  to  tie 


114  PATHFINDER. 

herself  up  handsomely.  Nothing  but  a  knife,  and  a  sharp 
one,  too,  will  do  the  business." 

"  I  know  it,"  replied  Elmer,  quietly.  "I'm  only  pre- 
tending to  try  and  get  her  foot  out  just  to  make  her  un- 
derstand that  we  want  to  help  her.  Now  just  watch  me,  and 
see  how  I  manage." 

Presently,  as  if  despairing  of  success,  he  ceased  his  labor. 
Then  he  pointed  to  the  vine,  and  made  several  slashes  across 
it  with  his  forefinger,  after  which  he  pointed  to  the  knife 
Mark  was  holding  out,  and  nodded  his  head. 

The  woman  was  interested. 

"  Go  through  it  all  again;  she's  beginning  to  under- 
stand," said  Mark,  himself  deeply  interested  in  the  suc- 
cess of  this  deaf  and  dumb  method  of  communication. 

"  Well,  of  all  the  stupids  going,  give  me  one  of  these 
same  dagoes,"  grumbled  Lil  Artha.  "  Why,  you  make  it 
plain  enough  for  a  Hottentot  to  grab,  Elmer.  But  I  'm  be- 
ginning to  hope  she'll  get  on  soon.  Try  her  once  more, 
pardner.  You're  the  boss  hand  at  wig- wagging.  Give  her 
the  high  sign,  Elmer." 

Deliberately  Elmer  again  pretended  to  cut  the  vine  with 
his  forefinger,  then  shook  his  head  and  afterward  pointed 
to  the  knife. 

The  woman's  black  eyes  followed  each  movement,  and 
evidently  she  began  to  grasp  the  idea  that  he  did  not  desire 
the  weapon  so  as  to  injure,  but  to  assist  her. 

"  Glory  be!  "  ejaculated  Lil  Artha,  who  had  been  almost 
holding  his  breath  with  suspense  while  all  this  pantomime 
business  was  going  on,  "  look  at  that,  would  you,  fellows? 
A  bright  thought  has  managed  to  get  a  foothold  in  her 


PATHFINDER.  115 

brain.  I  bet  you  it  needed  a  sledge  hammer  to  pound  it  in. 
Say,  she's  beginning  to  smile  at  you,  Elmer.  You've  won 
out.  She  believes  you  mean  all  right.  Give  him  the  toad- 
sticker,  Mark,  and  let  him  get  to  work." 

Elmer  knew  that  his  actions  would  no  longer  be  mis- 
fionstrued.  The  Italian  woman  understood. 

So  he  held  out  his  hand  and  received  the  knife  from 
Mark.  The  woman  moved  uneasily,  but  the  smile  Elmer 
gave  her  was  surely  enough  to  disarm  any  lingering  sus- 
picion she  may  have  entertained. 

Of  course  it  was  only  a  small  job  now  to  cut  through  the 
obstinate  vine  at  a  point  where  the  greatest  holding  point 
lay. 

'  There  you  are !  ' '  remarked  Lil  Artha,  as  the  knife 
severed  the  last  strand. 

The  woman  got  slowly  to  her  feet.  She  folded  her  arms 
across  her  bosom  with  what  seemed  to  be  an  air  of  resig- 
nation. Yet  Elmer  knew  that  all  the  while  those  sparkling 
black  eyes  were  watching  him  intently. 

The  woman  had  guessed  that  Elmer  must  be  the  leader 
of  the  three  strangers  in  uniform.  Hence  she  looked  to  him 
for  orders. 

'  Well,  what 're  we  going  to  do  with  this  pretty  thing, 
now  that  we've  got  it?  "  remarked  Lil  Artha. 

"  I  suppose,  first  of  all,  we  ought  to  go  back  to  the 
shack,"  said  Elmer. 

'  You  mean  to  hold  her  a  prisoner,  I  take  it?  "  asked 
Mark,  who  had  the  utmost  faith  in  the  acting  scout  master's 
ability  to  grasp  the  situation. 

"  That's  about  the  only  thing  open  to  us,"  Elmer  re- 
B  s — 32 


116  PATHFINDER. 

plied.  "  Through  the  woman  perhaps  we  can  get  in  touch 
with  the  three  men  who  are  holding  Nat  Scott  a  prisoner, 
and  bring  about  his  release." 

"  I  don't  see  how,"  grumbled  Lil  Artha.  "  If  you  had 
all  that  trouble  getting  her  to  understand  you  only  meant 
to  cut  the  old  vine,  and  not  her  foot  off,  how  in  the  dickens 
d'ye  expect  to  get  her  to  know  we  don't  mean  to  do  her 
bunch  any  harm?  " 

"  Oh,  there  may  be  ways,"  smiled  Elmer. 

"  But  you  don't  speak  Italiano,  Elmer;  that's  dead  sure, 
else  you'd  have  used  it  right  now  to  tell  her  you  only 
wanted  to  cut  the  vine, ' '  Lil  Artha  went  on. 

"  How  about  George?  "  remarked  Elmer. 

"  What!    George  Bobbins?  "  asked  the  tall  scout. 

"  Why,  yes,  you  remember  he  told  us  his  father  employs 
a  large  number  of  these  foreigners,  and  unless  I  'm  mistaken 
I  think  I  remember  hearing  George  say  he'd  been  picking 
up  quite  a  lot  of  Italian  words. ' ' 

"  That  sounds  all  to  the  good  then,"  declared  Lil  Ar- 
tha, with  enthusiasm.  ' '  Bully  for  George !  His  knowledge 
may  be  the  key  that 's  going  to  unlock  this  old  padlock  for 
us." 

"  Then  let's  get  back  to  the  shack.  Fall  in  around  the 
woman.  That  ought  to  tell  her  what  we  want  her  to  do." 

Elmer,  as  he  spoke,  took  up  his  position  alongside  the 
prisoner,  while  Mark  and  the  long-legged  scout  clapped 
their  sticks  to  their  right  shoulders  as  though  parading 
arms. 

Then  Elmer  pointed  backward  in  the  direction  they  had 
just  come  from. 


PATHFINDER.  117 

"  Go!  "  he  said,  impressively. 

Whether  the  prisoner  understood  the  word,  or  judged 
from  their  actions  what  was  required,  Elmer  could  not  say. 
All  he  cared  for  was  the  fact  that  when  he  started  off  she 
accompanied  him,  limping  a  little  as  though  she  might 
have  twisted  her  ankle  somewhat  in  the  violence  of  her 
struggles,  looking  sullen  rather  than  fearful  now,  and  ap- 
parently resigned  to  her  fate,  whatever  that  might  prove 
to  be. 

There  was  no  difficulty  about  reaching  the  abandoned 
shack  again.  All  Elmer  had  to  do  was  to  follow  the  broad 
trail  they  had  made  when  chasing  after  the  fleeing  woman. 

They  found  no  change  when  they  presently  drew  up  at 
the  hidden  retreat.  Nor  was  there  any  sign  of  the  other 
scouts,  though  once  Elmer  thought  he  did  hear  loud  and 
excited  voices  up  on  the  side  of  the  mountain,  as  though 
Matty  and  his  detachment  might  have  found  it  necessary 
to  leave  the  lowlands,  and  were  having  troubles  of  their 
own. 

"  Well,"  remarked  Lil  Artha,  as  they  arrived  in  front 
of  the  shack,  "  here  we  are,  all  to  the  good,  and  right 
side  up  with  care.  The  question  is,  what  d'ye  expect  to 
do  with  the  signorina,  now  that  you've  got  her?  " 

"  She  must  be  kept  a  prisoner  in  the  shanty  until  we 
can  decide  on  our  course,  and  get  George  here,"  replied 
Elmer,  so  readily  that  the  others  understood  how  he  must 
have  his  plan  of  action  fully  mapped  out  in  his  own  mind. 

"  Let's  see  you  usher  her  in,  then,"  chuckled  the  tall 
scout,  just  as  though  he  anticipated  enjoying  a  treat  when 
Elmer  tried  to  "  shoo  "  the  Italian  woman  into  the  place. 


118  PATHFINDER. 

But  it  proved  the  easiest  thing  possible.  When  Elmer 
took  her  by  the  arm  and  pointed  to  the  open  door  the 
woman  gave  him  one  look,  shook  herself  free  from  his 
grasp,  and  hastened  to  vanish  within  the  shack. 

' '  Easy  as  falling  off  a  log, ' '  declared  Lil  Artha,  a  shade 
of  disappointment  in  his  voice,  for  he  had  anticipated  more 
or  less  of  a  struggle. 

Elmer  quietly  closed  the  door. 

"  How  are  you  going  to  fasten  it?  "  asked  Mark. 

"  I  wish  that  was  the  hardest  nut  I  had  to  crack," 
laughed  the  scout  master.  "  Fortunately  the  door  opens 
outwardly. ' ' 

' '  Unfortunately,  you  mean, ' '  echoed  Mark,  as  he  touched 
the  painful  lump  on  his  forehead. 

"  I  say  yes  to  that,"  grinned  Lil  Artha,  whose  nose 
had  stopped  bleeding  by  this  time,  but  whose  face  was  a 
sight  to  behold,  being  smeared  with  all  manner  of  strange 
red  marks  that  made  him  resemble  an  Apache  Indian  on 
the  warpath. 

"  As  it  does  open  outwardly,  however,"  Elmer  went  on 
saying,  with  a  sympathetic  smile  for  the  woes  of  his  chums, 
"  it  ought  to  be  easy  enough  for  us  to  barricade  the  door. 
Look  around,  boys,  and  see  if  you  can  find  several  good  stout 
sticks  about  three  or  four  feet  long.  Even  a  small  tree 
trunk  would  be  about  what  we  want." 

' '  And  I  think  I  know  where  to  find  one, ' '  said  Lil  Ar- 
tha, hastening  away,  "  because  I  took  a  header  over  it 
when  we  were  chasing  the  dago  woman." 


PATHFINDER.  119 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE   CALL   OF   THE   WOLF. 

"  THAT'S  the  ticket,  Lil  Artha,"  said  Elmer,  as  the  tall 
scout  returned  presently,  bearing  on  his  shoulder  quite  a 
good-sized  log  about  five  feet  in  length. 

"  Reckon  that  ought  to  hold  all  right,"  panted  the  bur- 
den bearer,  as  he  cast  the  small  tree  trunk  at  Elmer's  feet. 

"  Fine  and  dandy,"  commented  Mark,  beginning  to 
get  the  barricade  in  position. 

Of  course  the  log  had  to  be  planted  in  such  a  way  that 
it  might  secure  a  grip  on  the  door.  This  meant  that  it 
must  incline  at  an  angle  of  more  than  forty-five  degrees. 

Elmer  dug  a  little  hole,  first  of  all,  at  a  certain  distance 
from  the  door,  after  the  length  of  the  log  had  been  tested. 

Then,  with  the  help  of  his  chums,  he  seated  one  end  of 
the  log  firmly  in  this.  When  the  other  end  was  allowed 
to  slip  down  the  face  of  the  door  it  rested  about  halfway. 

"  No  danger  of  that  slipping  loose  if  she  tries  to  push 
out,"  remarked  Elmer. 

Mark  gave  several  additional  pulls  downward  at  the 
upper  end  of  the  log,  to  make  it  still  firmer. 

"  I'll  just  wager,"  he  said,  finally,  "  that  nobody,  man 
or  woman,  could  open  that  door  now  from  the  inside." 

"  How  about  the  window?  "  asked  Lil  Artha. 

"  You  might  manage  to  crawl  through  that  small  open- 
ing, but  that  broad-beamed  woman,  never,"  declared  the 

master,  positively. 
Then  we've  got  our  wild  bird  safely  caged." 


120  PATHFINDER. 

"  Looks  like  it,  for  the  time  being,  anyhow,"  was  the 
way  Elmer  replied. 

"  Say,  see  here,  you  don't  seem  to  go  very  strong  on  the 
jail  business.  What's  on  your  mind  now,  Elmer?  "  and 
Lil  Artha  confronted  the  other  as  he  spoke,  lifting  a  re- 
proachful finger  at  him. 

"  "Well,  there's  many  a  slip  between  the  cup  and  the  lip, 
you  know." 

' '  Oh,  rats !  Get  down  to  business,  Elmer.  What  might 
happen  to  upset  our  plans  ?  ' '  asked  the  tall  scout. 

"  One  of  the  men  might  return." 

"  And  of  course  throw  down  the  log  and  liberate  our 
prisoner.  But  between  you  and  me  and  the  lamp-post, 
Elmer,  I  don 't  believe  that 's  going  to  happen.  'Cause  why  ? 
Well,  it's  my  honest  belief  that  this  Italiano  woman's  got 
all  the  nerve  there  is  in  that  crowd.  The  men  are  cowards. ' ' 

"I'm  rather  of  the  same  opinion,  Artha,"  remarked 
Elmer.  "  And  I've  thought  that  same  thing  more  than 
once  when  watching  some  of  them  in  their  settlement." 

"  But  how  about  your  other  reason,  Elmer?  "  asked  Lil 
Artha.  "  Suppose  now  the  men  don't  come,  what  danger 
is  there  of  her  getting  out?  D'ye  expect  she  could  bur- 
row under  the  walls  like  we  did  once  up  at  that  old  lumber 
camp?  " 

"  Perhaps.  But  I  was  thinking  of  another  thing.  No- 
tice how  poorly  this  shack  is  put  together?  Why,  if  that 
Amazon  got  on  the  rampage  and  just  took  a  notion,  I 
believe  she  could  bring  the  whole  business  down  in  ruins 
about  her  head." 

"  Wow,  I  guess  she  could,  Elmer!  "  remarked  the  tall 


PATHFINDER.  121 

boy,  nodding  his  head,  "  just  like  Samson  did  long  ago 
when  he  yanked  the  temple  down,  and  kicked  the  bucket 
himself,  with  all  his  enemies.  But  I  don't  think  this  dull- 
witted  creature 's  got  sense  enough  for  that ;  do  you  ?  ' ' 

"  Perhaps  not.  I  hope  she  won't,  anyhow,  because  I 
mean  to  leave  you  and  Mark  here  to  g^ard  our  prisoner 
while  I'm  gone,"  said  Elmer. 

"  Oh,  I  see,  you  want  to  join  the  rest  of  the  troop.  Per- 
haps you've  got  a  hunch  they  might  be  needing  you  about 
now?  "  Lil  Artha  observed. 

"  One  thing  I  know,  and  that  is  they've  left  the  low 
ground  and  gone  up  the  side  of  the  mountain. ' ' 

"  I  guessed  that  myself  when  I  heard  some  of  the  fel- 
lers callin'  up  yonder.  So  it  stands  to  reason  they've  lost 
the  trail  among  the  rocks, ' '  Lil  Artha  went  on. 

"  I  expect  as  much,"  Elmer  said,  "  and  you  know  that 
since  the  men  carried  Nat  Scott  away  with  them  we've 
just  got  to  find  them  sooner  or  later." 

"  But  why  d'ye  suppose  now  they'd  be  so  pesky  mean 
as  to  climb  the  hill?  "  demanded  the  tall  scout. 

"  Oh,  perhaps  they  guessed  it  would  be  harder  for  any- 
one to  track  them  up  there, ' '  Elmer  answered. 

"  Yes,  that's  so,"  Mark  put  in;  "  or  it  might  be  they 
know  of  some  fine  cave  up  yonder  where  they  can  hide. 
You  often  run  across  caves,  big  and  little,  on  stony  hills." 

Elmer  seemed  to  agree  with  this  suggestion,  for  he  nod- 
ded his  head  after  Mark  had  advanced  it. 

11  Do  you  think  you  can  manage?  "  he  asked. 
'  Well,  we'd  be  a  pretty  pair  of  scouts,  wouldn't  we 
now,  if  we  failed  to  make  good  on  a  job  like  this?  "  scoffed 
Lil  Artha. 


122  PATHFINDER. 

He  threw  his  staff  over  his  shoulder,  gun  fashion,  and 
began  tramping  up  and  down  before  the  door  of  the  hid- 
den shack,  just  as  though  he  were  a  military  sentry  on 
duty. 

"  I  guess  you'll  do  all  right,  Lil  Artha,"  laughed  Elmer. 

' '  Before  you  go,  Elmer, ' '  said  Mark,  ' '  please  tell  us  just 
why  you  believe  these  Italians  haven't  meant  to  hurt  our 
chum  Nat." 

"  Well,  I  just  seem  to  feel  it  in  my  bones,  and  that's 
about  all  I  can  say,"  returned  the  other.  "I'm  more 
convinced  now  than  ever  that  it's  going  to  turn  out  only 
a  silly  mistake  on  their  part.  Perhaps  they've  been  doing 
something  here  that's  against  the  law,  and  the  sight  of 
our  uniforms  threw  them  into  a  panic.  They've  carried 
Nat  off  with  them  just  so  he  couldn't  give  the  alarm,  and 
bring  the  rest  down  on  'em." 

"  Counterfeiting,  perhaps,"  suggested  Mark.  "  Seems  to 
me  I've  heard  that  the  Italians  are  pretty  smart  at  that 
sort  of  thing. ' ' 

"  Well,  I  don't  imagine  it's  anything  as  serious  as  that," 
Elmer  replied. 

"  Then  tell  us  what  you  do  think,"  demanded  Lil  Artha. 

"  You  will  force  my  hand,  will  you1?  "  laughed  Elmer. 

"It's  only  fair  to  tell  us,"  pleaded  the  tall  scout. 

"  Well,  all  right,  seeing  that  I'm  more  than  ever  con- 
vinced I'm  on  the  right  track.  Here,  smell  that,  both  of 
you  and  tell  me  what  it  reminds  you  of." 

He  thrust  the  queer,  sharp-pointed  knife  that  had  been 
taken  from  the  woman  into  the  hand  of  Lil  Artha. 

That  individual  immediately  raised  it  to  his  nose,  took 
one  good  smell,  and  made  a  wry  face. 


PATHFINDER.  123 

"  Ugh!  rank  fishy  odor,  all  right!  "  he  declared. 

"  Then  look  back  a  bit,  Lil  Artha,"  Elmer  continued. 
*'  Don't  you  remember  that  in  the  mill  and  cottage  we  dis- 
covered a  strong  fishy  smell  when  we  tried  to  investigate 
that  underground  place?  " 

"  You're  right,  we  did,"  assented  the  tall  scout;  "  it 
made  me  feel  a  bit  squeamish,  too,  for  if  there's  one  thing 
I  can't  stomach  it's  rank  fish.  Ugh!  " 

"  I  see  what  you're  leading  up  to,  Elmer,"  announced 
Mark,  briskly,  "  and  I  must  say  it  looks  as  if  there  might 
be  a  whole  lot  of  truth  in  it,  too." 

"  These  Italians  are  often  fishermen.  A  cousin  of  mine 
once  told  me  that  along  the  Gulf  coast  and  around  New 
Orleans  the  whole  fishing  industry  lies  in  their  hands," 
Elmer  went  on. 

"  Then  you  believe  this  bunch  is  getting  fish  out  of 
Munsey  mill  pond,  and  selling  them,  perhaps  over  in  Scars- 
dale?  "  said  Mark. 

"  They  are  netting  fish  illegally,  I  imagine,"  Elmer  an- 
swered. "  That  would  explain  their  alarm.  Perhaps  the 
game  warden  has  been  around  and  threatened  to  have  them 
hauled  in  if  they  didn  't  take  warning.  And  ever  since  that 
time  they've  been  on  the  nervous  lookout." 

"  Gee,  I  bet  you  now  that's  what  it  means,  fellows!  " 
declared  Lil  Artha,  filled  with  new  enthusiasm,  as  he 
grasped  the  startling  idea  advanced  by  the  scout  master. 

* '  And  I  never  saw  so  many  big  frogs  as  there  are  around 
here,"  Elmer  went  on. 

"  That's  because  even  the  boys  keep  away  from  the 
haunted  mill, ' '  Mark  added. 


124  PATHFINDER. 

"  Yon  know  how  frogs  sell  in  the  market,  and  how  it 
would  pay  anybody  to  catch  a  few  hundred  such  jumboes 
as  there  are  here, ' '  Elmer  remarked. 

' '  Well,  it  does  take  you  to  figure  things  out  just,  I  must 
«ay,"  laughed  Mark. 

* '  He 's  a  wizard,  that 's  what, ' '  declared  Lil  Artha,  whose 
admiration  for  his  leader  was  boundless. 

' '  Not  at  all, ' '  smiled  the  other ;  ' '  a  little  common  sense 
was  all  that  was  needed.  The  strong  odor  of  fish  in  that 
cellar  put  me  on  the  track  first.  You  know  there's  an 
old  saying  to  the  effect  that  where  there 's  smoke  there  must 
be  fire." 

"  And  then  this  knife,  too — like  as  not  the  woman  does 
all  the  cleaning  of  the  fish.  I  thought  she  reminded  me  of 
black  bass  or  pickerel,  I  wasn't  sure  which,"  Lil  Artha 
stated,  with  a  chuckle. 

"  But  we've  been  around  more  or  less,  Elmer,"  Mark 
put  in,  "  and  I  don't  remember  seeing  any  signs  of  fish 
cleaning,  scales  or  anything." 

' '  Of  course  not. ' '  came  the  quick  reply.  ' '  If  these  people 
knew  they  were  breaking  the  law,  and  expected  the  game 
warden  to  pop  in  on  them  any  day,  you  can  just  believe 
they'd  be  mighty  careful  to  hide  all  traces  of  this  thing." 

"  Perhaps  they  throw  it  all  back  in  the  pond  for  fish 
bait,"  suggested  the  tall  scout. 

"  Not  a  bad  idea,"  commented  Elmer. 

"  And  the  cellar  under  the  mill  cottage?  "  asked  Mark. 

"  They  might  use  that  as  a  cool  place  to  keep  the  fish  until 
they  can  get  them  to  market,"  Elmer  replied. 

"  That's  a  fact,  seeing  they  have  no  ice  to  pack  them 


PATHFINDER.  125 

in,"  Lil  Artha  observed.  "  And  the  more  I  think  of  it 
all,  the  better  it  looks  to  me,  fellows." 

"  Then  you  believe  my  explanation  may  be  the  true 
answer  to  our  chum's  vanishing?  " 

"  I  sure  do." 

"  That  they  came  upon  him  by  accident,"  Elmer  went 
on,  "  and  filled  with  a  sudden  panic,  just  captured  him  to 
keep  Nat  from  calling  out  and  bringing  the  rest  of  us 
around?  " 

"  That's  what  they  did,"  Lil  Artha  affirmed.  "  And  no 
matter  how  sorry  they  might  be  afterward  because  they 
did  it,  they  just  can't  drop  him  now." 

"  Then,  since  we've  agreed  on  that  point  I  don't  see  the 
need  of  my  hanging  around  here  any  longer,"  Elmer  ob- 
served, drawing  his  belt  one  notch  tighter,  as  though  pre- 
paring for  new  labors. 

"  And  your  orders  are  just  the  same?  "  Mark  asked. 

"  Yes,  you  two  keep  guard  over  the  shack,  and  don't 
let  the  prisoner  get  away,  if  you  can  prevent  it." 

'*  Depend  on  us,  Elmer.  And  say,"  Lil  Artha  remarked, 
*'  don't  you  think  now  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  send 
George  down  here  ?  " 

"  That's  an  idea  worth  while,"  Elmer  quickly  replied. 

"  Oh,  I  get  'em  once  in  a  long  time,"  grinned  the  other. 

*'  A  good  scheme,  and  I'll  send  George  back  as  soon  as 
I  can.  When  he  comes,  take  him  in  to  see  the  woman. 
Have  him  try  and  get  her  to  understand  that  we  mean 
her  men  no  harm,  and  only  want  them  to  set  our  chum  free." 

"And  then  what?  Supposing  George  is  able  to  get 
that  pounded  into  her  head?  "  asked  Lil  Artha, 


126  PATHFINDER. 

"  Why,  lie  must  make  her  understand  that  we  want  to 
conduct  an  exchange  of  prisoners." 

"  By  that,  Elmer,"  Mark  broke  in,  "I  suppose  you 
mean  we'll  give  the  woman  up  if  they  let  Nat  go  free?  " 

"  That's  it,"  returned  the  leader.  "  And  as  she  is  the 
only  one  who  knows  their  new  hiding  place,  she  must  lead 
us  to  them." 

"  That  puts  me  wise,  all  right,"  declared  Lil  Artha. 
*'  But  get  good  old  George  here  as  soon  as  you  can,  Elmer. 
I  'm  just  crazy  to  see  if  he  knows  how  to  tell  the  old  woman 
all  this." 

"  That's  all,  boys;  I'll  be  going  now." 

But  although  Elmer  said  this  he  continued  to  stand 
there  immovable.  Neither  of  his  comrades  thought  it 
strange,  for  they,  too,  had  caught  the  same  sound  that  had 
reached  his  ears. 

It  was  evidently  a  pretty  good  imitation  of  the  howl  of 
a  wolf. 

Now,  as  this  was  the  signal  call  of  Elmer's  own  patrol 
they  knew  immediately  that  some  scout  belonging  to  that 
section  of  the  Hickory  Ridge  troop  must  be  approach- 
ing, and  took  this  customary  method  of  announcing  his 
coming. 

All  eyes  were  accordingly  turned  toward  that  quarter 
from  whence  the  note  of  the  wolf  had  seemed  to  come. 

This  was  a  little  up  the  side  of  the  mountain.  Elmer, 
thinking  to  give  the  other  his  location,  sent  out  an  an- 
swering signal. 

"  You're  scaring  the  old  woman  again  with  your  howls," 
remarked  Lil  Artha,  pointing  to  the  shack,  at  the  small 


PATHFINDER.  127 

of  which  they  could  see  the  face  of  the  prisoner, 
filled  with  wonder  and  awe. 

Perhaps  the  Italian  woman  was  beginning  to  suspect 
she  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  pack  of  crazy  people, 

' '  There  he  comes !  ' '  suddenly  announced  Mark,  pointing 
as  he  spoke. 

"  Looks  like  Dr.  Ted,"  remarked  Lil  Artha. 

"  Just  who  it  is,"  said  Elmer.  "  I  wish  it  had  been 
George  Robbins,  now,  because  that  would  have  saved  time. 
No  such  luck,  it  seems,  so  we'll  just  have  to  make  the  best 
of  it." 

"  But  what  d'ye  suppose  Ted's  coming  back  after?  " 
pursued  the  tall  scout. 

"  Help,"  declared  Mark,  decisively.  "  You  heard  what 
Elmer  said  when  he  turned  the  troop  over  to  Matty?  If 
they  found  themselves  up  a  stump  they  were  to  let  Elmer 
know,  just  so  he  could  swing  in  somehow,  and  pull  them 
out  of  the  hole." 

' '  They  're  up  against  it,  good  and  hard,  bet  you  a  cooky 
on  it,"  declared  Lil  Artha,  as  the  other  scout  drew  near. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE  NEED   OP  A   PATHFINDER. 

As  Dr.  Ted  approached  he  made  the  scout  salute  in  due 
regulation  style. 

"  You're  wanted  above,  thir,"  he  said  to  the  acting 
scout  master. 


128  PATHFINDER. 

"  By  that  I  suppose  you  mean  they've  struck  a  snag!  " 
questioned  Elmer. 

"  The  rockth  bothered  Matty.  Tho  long  ath  they  left  a 
trail  in  the  earth  he  could  follow  it  all  right.  But  when 
it  kept  on  athending  it  got  tougher  and  tougher.  Then 
he  lotht  it  altogether,  and  thent  me  to  fetch  you  along, 
thir." 

"  All  right,  I'll  go  with  you,  Number  Three.  You'll  be 
interested  to  know  that  we've  got  a  prisoner  here  in  the 
old  cabin, ' '  remarked  Elmer. 

Ted  glanced  that  way,  and  caught  sight  of  the  face  in 
the  window. 

"  The  old  Italian  woman,  eh?  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  Sure,"  said  Lil  Artha,  as  proudly  as  though  the  hon- 
ors of  the  capture  belonged  exclusively  to  him. 

"  Then  she  did  come  back  for  her  beadth?  " 

"  Yes.  Tell  you  all  about  it  on  the  way,  for  we  must 
be  moving  now,  Ted,"  the  scout  master  remarked. 

* '  All  right.  I  'm  with  you,  Elmer.  Come  on,  then, ' '  and, 
wheeling  sharply  around,  Ted  started  to  retrace  his  steps. 

So  Mark  and  his  long-legged  comrade  were  left  to  guard 
the  prison  of  the  old  Italian  woman,  while  the  other  two 
scouts  climbed  the  hill. 

* '  No  uthe  going  over  the  trail  we  made, ' '  remarked  Ted. 
"  It  wound  around  and  then  climbth  the  hill.  We  could 
thee  about  where  the  cabin  lay,  and  I  made  a  bee  line  down- 
hill for  the  thame." 

As  they  toiled  upward  Elmer,  keeping  his  promise,  re- 
lated all  that  had  happened  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
hidden  shack. 


PATHFINDER.  129 

Ted  seemed  to  enjoy  the  narrative  very  much  indeed. 
He  was  particularly  pleased  with  the  account  of  where  the 
old  woman  in  her  panic  had  burst  the  door  open,  and  up- 
set both  Mark  and  Lil  Artha. 

* '  I  wondered  what  happened  to  our  f  riendth, ' '  said  Ted. 
' '  And  if  you  hadn  't  been  in  thuch  a  big  hurry  to  cut  out, 
I'd  have  tried  fixing  both  the  poor  fellowth  up.  Lil 
Artha  lookth  like  a  pirate  chief,  and  ath  for  Mark,  you'd 
think  hith  brains  might  be  breaking  out." 

Elmer  had  no  trouble  at  all  in  following  the  plain  trail 
left  by  Ted  when  he  came  down  from  above.  His  prac- 
ticed eye  could  easily  see  the  marks  on  turf,  leaf  mold,  or 
even  where  the  other's  heels  with  their  steel  nails  had 
scraped  along  a  slanting  rock. 

"  Tell  me  thome  more  about  that,  pleath,"  said  Ted, 
while  they  were  still  climbing. 

Nothing  loath,  for  he  really  believed  he  had  solved  the 
secret  of  the  whole  business,  Elmer  gave  him  the  story, 
from  his  first  faint  suspicion  upon  looking  down  into  the 
strange-smelling  cellar  of  the  mill  house,  up  to  his  de- 
detecting  such  a  strong  odor  of  fish  about  the  Italian  woman, 
and  particularly  the  knife  she  carried. 

"  That'th  a  bully  good  idea,  all  right,"  said  Ted,  when 
the  story  was  finished. 

"  Do  you  think  it  sounds  fishy?  "  laughed  Elmer. 

"  Yeth  and  no,"  answered  the  other,  immediately, 
"  While  it  theemth  to  be  a  fish  yarn,  yet  it  ith  all  to  the 
good.  I  really  believe  you've  gone  and  figured  it  out, 
Elmer.  And  if  that  ith  tho,  it  ith  going  to  be  another  big 
feather  in  your  cap,  don't  you  forget  it." 


130  PATHFINDER. 

"  We  ought  to  be  close  to  where  you  left  the  rest  of  the 
boys,  by  now,"  suggested  the  scout  master,  desirous  of 
changing  the  conversation,  for,  strange  to  say,  Elmer  never 
liked  to  hear  himself  praised. 

"  I  reckon  we  are,"  replied  Ted.  "  Suppothe  you  try 
your  whistle,  and  give  'em  a  call. ' ' 

So  the  patrol  leader's  whistle  was  brought  into  play 
again.  Hardly  had  it  sounded  than  there  came  an  answer 
from  a  point  not  far  distant. 

"  There  they  are!  "  cried  Ted,  pointing,  "  I  thee  Red 
waving  hith  hat  to  uth  right  now.  We'll  join  'em  in  a  jiffy, 
if  the  walking  ith  good." 

It  proved  to  be  decent  enough  for  the  two  climbers  to 
reach  the  spot  where  Matty  and  the  rest  of  the  troop  awaited 
them. 

"I'm  all  in,  Elmer,"  admitted  the  leader  of  the  Beaver 
Patrol,  as  he  threw  up  both  hands  in  disgust.  "  Just  as 
I  said,  it  was  all  hunk  till  I  struck  the  rocks,  and  I  've  been 
up  in  the  air  ever  since." 

"  Yes,  Matty  has  even  hinted  that  he  believes  those  Ital- 
ians must  have  had  wings  somewhere  around  here,  and  just 
flown  away,"  laughed  Chatz. 

"  Well,  that  wouldn't  be  so  very  queer,"  declared  Toby 
Jones,  always  thinking  of  things  touching  on  aviation. 
"It's  a  bully  good  place  to  make  a  start,  anyway,  if  a 
feller  only  had  the  wings." 

"  Yes,  and  a  gay  old  place  to  bring  up  on  all  the  rocks 
down  there.  And  how  about  our  chum  Nat ;  he  never  had 
any  longing  to  soar  through  the  air.  But  tell  us  what's 
doing,  Elmer,"  said  Red,  impatiently. 


PATHFINDER.  131 

•'  Oh,  he's  got  lots  to  tell  you,"  declared  Ted,  with  the 
air  of  a  highly  favored  one  who  had  been  already  taken 
into  the  great  secret. 

Of  course  his  words  stirred  the  scouts  as  nothing  else 
could  have  done.  They  crowded  around  and  began  to  beg 
for  particulars. 

"  Where's  Lil  Artha?  "  one  questioned. 

"  And  Mark?  "  exclaimed  another. 

"  Say,  Elmer,  did  she  come  back,  and  step  into  the  nice 
little  trap  you  were  going  to  get  ready?  "  asked  a  third 
scout,  with  intense  interest  aroused. 

When  Elmer  nodded  his  head  they  broke  out  into  a  rous- 
ing boyish  cheer. 

"  Tell  us  all  about  it,  Elmer/'  was  flung  at  the  scout 
master  from  all  quarters. 

As  this  was  Elmer's  intention  anyway  he  lost  no  time 
in  briefly  though  forcibly  describing  all  that  had  taken, 
place  down  below. 

"  And  now  I  want  George  to  go  down  with  Ted,  here/' 
Elmer  went  on,  "  and  try  to  engage  the  woman  in  conver- 
sation. Tell  her,  if  you  can,  who  and  what  we  are,  and  the 
reason  for  our  coming  here  in  uniform.  Tell  her  we  mean 
them  no  harm,  but  that  we  want  our  chum  set  free.  Do  you 
follow  me,  George?  " 

"  Of  course  I  do,"  came  the  ready  answer. 

'*  You  understand  Italian,  and  talk  it  some,  I've  been 
told?  "  Elmer  went  on. 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  can  really  converse  with  some  Italian  men. 
Don't  know  about  a  woman,  though.  But  I'll  do  my  best 

to  make  her  see  things  straight." 
BS— 33 


132  PATHFINDER. 

"  I  like  to  hear  you  talk  that  way,  George,"  continued 
Elmer;  "  the  true  scout  is  always  ready  to  do  his  best. 
And  I  think  you're  going  to  make  a  fine  addition  to  our 
troop  before  long." 

"  After  I've  told  her,  what  then?  "  asked  George,  who 
looked  pleased  at  hearing  these  words  of  praise  from  on»A 
he  respected  as  highly  as  he  did  Elmer. 

"  Why,  you  must  bring  her  along,  and  rejoin  us.  Lil 
Artha  and  Mark  will  accompany  you,  because  all  ought  to 
be  in  at  the  finish.  You  understand,  don't  you,  George?  " 

"  I  sure  do.  Come  on,  Ted,  show  me  the  way  down  to 
the  old  shack.  As  we  go  along  I'll  be  brushing  up  my 
Italian  words  so  as  to  spring  'em  on  the  old  lady.  This 
way,  Ted." 

"  And  while  you're  jabbering  with  the  woman,  why,  per- 
haps now  I  might  be  amuthing  mythelf  doctoring  the 
noble  woundth  of  our  two  chuinth, ' '  declared  the  fellow  who 
was  never  so  happy  as  when  engaged  in  the  work  of  a 
doctor. 

Why,  some  of  the  boys  often  called  Ted  "  Sawbones," 
because  he  gave  himself  over,  heart  and  soul,  to  his  one 
great  hobby. 

So  the  two  of  them  vanished  down  the  side  of  the  hill. 
As  their  voices  died  away  among  the  thickets  Elmer  turned 
his  attention  to  the  task  of  finding  and  following  the  trail 
of  the  Italians. 

"  Show  me  where  you  saw  it  last,  Matty,"  he  said. 

"  Here  you  are,  then,"  came  the  reply;  "  that  footprint 
is  as  plain  as  anything." 

"  So  it  is,"  remarked  Elmer,  after  studying  the  mark 
briefly.  "  Our  chum  made  that,  I'm  positive." 


PATHFINDER.  133 

6t  Then  he  must  have  done  it  on  purpose,"  said  Matty, 
6*  because  I've  noticed  that  one  footprint  right  along." 

Elmer  smiled. 

"  Good  for  Nat,"  he  remarked.  "  If  he  don't  dare  use 
nis  voice  and  call  out  to  us,  he's  doing  everything  in  his 
power  to  show  us  the  trail.  That's  what  he's  learned  of 
scouting  tactics.  I'm  glad  he  remembered.  It  shows  how 
much  a  fellow  can  learn." 

"  That's  right,"  remarked  Matty;  "  I  see  it  all  plain 
snough  right  now ;  but  d  'ye  know  the  suspicion  never  did 
break  in  on  me  that  these  tracks  had  been  made  purposely, 
and  by  Nat?  Why,  I  just  had  an  idea  one  of  the  bunch 
was  a  little  careless,  that's  all." 

"  Well,  you'll  know  better  after  this,  Matty.  But  stand 
fcack,  and  let's  see  what  luck  I'll  have,  if  so  be  you  fel- 
iows  haven't  killed  the  trail  by  running  around." 

They  watched  his  actions  eagerly,  each  fellow  bent  on 
learning  all  he  could  of  the  science  that  was  already  prov- 
ing to  be  so  interesting. 

First  of  all  Elmer  took  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the 
ground  above;  for  everyone  understood  that  those  they 
were  tracking  must  be  aiming  to  reach  some  cave  or  crev- 
ice farther  up  the  slope. 

Then,  having  settled  in  his  mind  about  where  the  fugi- 
tives might  be  aiming  for,  the  scout  master  began  to  look 
for  marks  on  the  rocks. 

For  a  little  while  he  found  it  very  hard  work,  indeed,  but 
after  reaching  the  limits  of  the  search  maintained  by  Matty 
and  those  with  him,  the  task  became  considerably  easier. 

And  mindful  of  his  position  as  acting  scout  master  to  the 


134  PATHFINDER. 

troop  during  the  temporary  absence  of  Mr.  Garrabrant, 
Elmer  made  it  a  point  to  explain  more  or  less  as  he  went 
along. 

"  See,  here  is  where  one  of  the  men  slipped  on  this  rock, 
and  left  a  new  scratch.  And  this  shows  where  another 
broke  a  twig  off  this  branch  in  passing.  You  can  see  it 
has  been  freshly  done,  because  the  green  leaves  do  not  show 
much  sign  of  wilting." 

In  this  fashion,  then,  he  not  only  intensely  interested  his 
followers,  but  continued  to  make  progress  all  the  while. 

Most  of  the  boys  were  eager  to  get  points  on  such  an 
engaging  subject  as  trail  finding.  These  hung  upon  his 
every  word,  examined  the  marks  to  which  Elmer  drew  their 
attention,  commented  upon  the  same  among  themselves,  and 
several  even  went  so  far  as  to  take  out  memorandum  books 
in  which  they  hastily  scribbled  such  notes  as  would  enable 
them  to  remember. 

All  the  while  they  were  climbing  higher,  and  by  degrees 
found  themselves  in  a  wilder  section  than  any  of  them  had 
dreamed  existed  so  near  their  home  town  of  Hickory  Ridge. 

"  Looks  like  there  might  be  a  few  caves  around  such  a 
place  as  this,'*  remarked  Red,  as  he  wiped  his  face  with 
the  red  bandana  handkerchief  which  he  had  hung  cowboy 
fashion  around  his  neck,  with  the  knot  at  the  back. 

"  Oh,  that's  a  dead-sure  thing,"  replied  Ty,  who  hap- 
pened to  be  close  at  his  elbow  at  the  time.  "  Fact  is,  I've 
seen  several  myself.  Anyhow,  they  were  dark,  ugly  look- 
ing holes  between  big  rocks,  and  if  this  was  a  game  coun- 
try I'd  say  they  might  be  bear  dens  or  the  homes  of  wolves." 

All  this  sort  of  talk  tended  to  key  the  anticipations  of 


PATHFINDER.  135 

the  boys  up  to  a  point  where  they  were  expecting  almost 
anything  to  happen. 

Elmer  paid  no  attention  to  side  issues.  There  might  be 
a  dozen  likely  looking  hiding  places  along  the  route,  but 
they  did  not  interest  him  an  iota  so  long  as  that  faintly 
marked  trail  continued. 

He  had  about  all  he  cared  to  do,  moving  from  one  spot 
where  a  stone  had  been  freshly  dislodged  to  another  point 
at  which  the  moss  and  lichen  had  been  torn  from  a  sloping 
rock  by  a  foot  that  accidentally  or  purposely  slipped. 

There  were  possibly  some  little  indications,  which  to  his 
mind  told  that  they  might  now  be  drawing  near  the  place 
where  the  panic-stricken  Italians  were  hiding.  If  so,  Elmer 
did  not  confide  this  to  his  companions,  perhaps  because  he 
might  not  himself  be  so  very  sure,  but  more  probably  on 
account  of  not  wishing  to  waste  more  or  less  precious  time 
in  explaining  on  what  vague  grounds  he  founded  his  theory. 

The  trees  still  grew  around  them,  springing  out  of  spaces 
between  the  rocks.  They  were  more  stunted  than  those 
in  the  great  forest  that  covered  the  richer  bottom  lands, 
but  as  a  rule  they  served  as  a  canopy  overhead,  and  only 
occasional  glimpses  could  be  obtained  of  the  country  be- 
yond. 

By  this  time  some  of  the  scouts  had  begun  to  feel  the 
effect  of  the  climb,  for  there  is  nothing  more  fatiguing  than 
ascending  a  steep  hill. 

Still  they  proved  their  grit  by  keeping  on,  as  if  deter- 
mined to  stick  it  out. 

Even  fat  Landy  Smith,  while  actually  panting  for  breath, 
and  mopping  his  forehead  with  a  damp  handkerchief,  stub- 


136  PATHFINDER. 

bornly  declined  to  own  himself  in  the  "  has  been  "  class, 
as  Red  called  it. 

They  were  moving  along  what  seemed  to  be  a  little 
plateau,  at  the  end  of  which  arose  a  cliff  seamed  with  nu- 
merous cracks  and  scars. 

Elmer  had  smiled  when  he  cast  a  glance  toward  the  rocky 
wall,  just  as  if  he  could  scent  the  end  of  the  trail  close 
at  hand. 

But  he  was  already  halfway  across  the  level  territory, 
with  the  scouts  scattered  back  of  him,  when  without  the 
least  warning  there  suddenly  sounded  a  shot  that  seemed 
to  come  from  somewhere  ahead;  and  the  report  gave  each 
scout  a  strange  chill  in  the  region  of  his  heart. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

RESCUED CONCLUSION. 

"  SCATTER,  and  hide!  " 

It  was  Elmer  who  shouted  this  order.  He  had  not  heard 
any  sound  as  of  a  bullet  passing,  and  did  not  know  but 
that  the  shot  had  been  fired  simply  for  the  purpose  of  a 
warning. 

Still,  there  was  no  need  of  their  taking  chances.  And 
as  he  gave  the  command,  Elmer  was  one  of  the  first  to  seek 
the  shelter  of  a  near-by  rock. 

Immediately  the  valiant  scouts  scurried  around,  each 
eagerly  desirous  of  finding  some  sort  of  snug  retreat. 

No  further  shots  came,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 


PATHFINDER.  137 

boys,  and  inside  of  half  a  minute  not  a  figure  was  to  be 
seen  upon  the  little  plateau. 

It  chanced  that  Red  had  selected  the  same  rock  as  Elmer 
picked  out,  behind  which  to  crouch. 

And  of  course  Red  could  not  long  remain  silent,  since 
his  overcharged  feelings  just  had  to  find  a  vent. 

' '  Whew,  this  is  what  I  call  warm !  "  he  said,  puffing. 

"  Do  you  mean  the  weather,  or  the  fact  that  we  have  been 
under  fire?  "  asked  Elmer,  who  was  looking  out  from 
his  end  of  the  rock,  and  trying  to  size  the  situation  up. 

"  Oh,  well,  I  guess  both  of  'em  would  pass  muster,  all 
right,"  Red  went  on.  "  You  don't  think  any  fellow  got 
hurt,  do  you,  Elmer?  " 

' '  Not  any.  Fact  is, ' '  continued  the  scout  master,  "  I  've 
a  pretty  good  hunch  the  shot  was  not  fired  at  us,  but  into 
the  air,  warning  us  to  keep  off  or  we  might  get  hurt." 

"  The  ginnies  fired  it,  of  course,  Elmer?  " 

"  I'm  sure  of  that." 

"  And  we've  cornered  the  bunch  at  last,  hey?  You 
did  the  trick,  Elmer.  Trust  you  for  following  even  half  a 
trail  blindfolded.  But  say,  do  you  know  where  they're 
holding  the  fort?  " 

"  I've  got  something  of  an  idea,"  replied  Elmer.  "  If 
you  look  up  the  face  of  the  cliff,  Red,  you'll  notice  a  bunch 
of  green  stuff  growing.  I  think  there  must  be  a  shelf  of 
rock  there,  and  perhaps  a  cave  back  of  it." 

' '  But  what  makes  you  think  that,  Elmer  ?  ' ' 

"  Because  I  saw  the  powder  smoke  puff  out  from  those 
little  bushes  when  the  report  sounded,"  replied  Elmer. 

"  But  my  stars!  that's  all  of  fifty  feet  up.     How  d'ye 


138  PATHFINDER. 

suppose  those  dagoes  could  get  up  there?  "  continued  the 
one  who  sought  information. 

"  Oh,  that  would  just  as  likely  as  not  turn  out  to  be 
easy  enough,  once  you  got  started.  Perhaps  there's  some 
sort  of  path  leading  up  the  face  of  the  cliff,  and  which  we 
just  can 't  see  from  here. ' ' 

"  "What 're  we  going  to  do,  Elmer?  " 

"  Nothing — just  now,  anyway." 

"  Just  sit  on  our  haunches,  and  wait  for  our  birds  to 
drop  into  our  hands,  eh  ?  "  pursued  Red. 

"  Oh,  perhaps  we  may  have  to  fight  for  it  in  the  end,  but 
I  'm  hoping  for  an  easier  wind  up  to  the  affair, ' '  Elmer  con- 
tinued, musingly. 

' '  You  think  the  old  woman  may  help  out  ?  ' ' 

u  I  know  she  will,  if  George  can  only  succeed  in  convinc- 
ing her  that  we  're  friends,  not  enemies. ' ' 

"  Then  we're  waiting  till  they  arrive?  "  asked  Red. 

"I'm  going  to  give  the  signal  for  retiring  as  soon  as 
the  boys  get  their  breath  back,"  remarked  the  scout  mas- 
ter. 

'  Well,  they  might  be  in  better  places,  because  the  sun 
feels  scorching  to  me  right  now,"  grumbled  Red. 

' '  Then  pick  out  your  new  roost,  and  be  ready  to  migrate 
as  soon  as  you  hear  the  whistle.  Pass  the  word  along,  too, 
Red." 

Presently  it  was  understood  that  when  the  scout  master 
gave  the  signal  every  fellow  was  expected  to  crawl  or  dart 
away,  seeking  through  one  way  or  another  to  get  out  of 
the  fire  zone. 


PATHFINDER.  139 

"  I  hope  George  has  succeeded  in  explaining  everything 
to  the  woman  by  now,"  remarked  Eed. 

"  I  'm  sure  he  has,  and  that  the  whole  of  them  are  even 
now  on  the  way  here  to  wind  up  this  business, ' '  Elmer  de- 
clared most  confidently 

When  ten  minutes  nad  gone  by,  and  he  felt  sure  that 
all  of  the  scouts  knew  what  they  were  expected  to  do,  Elmer 
took  out  his  whistle. 

Then  the  shrill  notes  sounded,  cutting  the  air  as  though 
charged  with  irresistible  force. 

Immediately  everybody  got  busy.  Khaki-clad  figures 
could  be  seen  darting  this  way  and  that,  but  none  of  them 
made  any  attempt  to  advance.  This  sort  of  move  might  be 
expected  to  anger  the  Italians,  without  doing  any  good,  and 
the  scouts  had  been  warned  against  it. 

There  came  no  second  discharge  of  firearms,  and  from 
this  fact  it  seemed  evident  that  the  unseen  enemy  under- 
stood that  there  was  nothing  hostile  connected  with  this 
action  on  the  part  of  the  scouts. 

Again  did  Red  and  Elmer  find  themselves  good  neigh- 
bors as  they  arrived  at  a  pile  of  rocks,  behind  which  they 
sought  shelter. 

"  All  safe?  "  asked  the  former. 

' '  Yes,  as  far  as  I  know, ' '  came  the  answer.  ' '  Landy  fell 
all  over  himself,  and  started  to  roll  downhill,  but  one 
of  the  other  fellows  pulled  him  up.  He  was  limping  to 
beat  the  band,  but  I  hope  it's  nothing  serious." 

"  No  danger,"  chuckled  Red.  "  Landy  is  too  well  pad- 
ded to  suffer  much  from  a  fall.  Now  do  we  just  wait 
here  till  the  others  fetch  the  lady?  " 


140  PATHFINDER. 

"  That's  a  part  of  the  contract,"  said  Elmer;  "  so  just 
make  yourself  as  comfy  as  you  can." 

"  And  watch  the  big  rock  there,  eh,  Elmer?  " 

' '  Oh,  if  you  want.  We  would  feel  pretty  cheap  if  they 
took  a  sly  sneak,  and  left  us  in  the  lu^ch. ' ' 

Elmer  settled  down  as  though  he  thought  there  was  no 
use  borrowing  trouble.  And  seeing  their  leader  take  things 
in  such  a  matter-of-fact  way  the  balance  of  the  scouts  fol- 
lowed suit. 

Confidence  thus  begets  confidence  in  others;  and  this  in 
itself  was  one  of  Elmer's  reasons  for  acting  as  he  did. 

The  minutes  passed. 

Several  times  did  impatient  Red  get  up  on  his  knees  to 
take  a  look  down  the  hill. 

' '  Shucks !  but  they  're  a  long  time  coming, ' '  he  mumbled. 
"  Perhaps,  after  all,  the  old  woman  was  too  sharp  for  the 
bunch — perhaps  she's  tucked  'em  away  in  the  cabin — turn- 
ing the  tables  on  our  four  chums — perhaps,  now " 

Right  there  Red  stopped  in  his  predictions  of  evil. 

"  There  they  come,"  said  Elmer,  quietly. 

One  hasty  look  satisfied  Red  that  his  comrade  spoke  only 
the  truth.  Moving  figures  caught  his  eye  just  a  little  way 
down  the  slope. 

These  presently  developed  into  four  boys,  three  of  whom 
were  clad  in  khaki.  The  other,  who  was,  of  course,  George, 
the  interpreter,  kept  close  at  the  side  of  the  Italian  woman. 

Now  and  then  she  seemed  to  address  some  remark  to 
George,  which  he  doubtless  answered  to  the  best  of  his 
ability.  "When  his  vocabulary  proved  unequal  to  the  task 


PATHFINDEE.  141 

he  would  finish  with  a  series  of  gestures  and  shrugs  as  he 
had  seen  chattering  Italians  do. 

And  presently  they  reached  the  spot  where  the  balance 
of  the  scouts  held  forth. 

The  woman  surveyed  them  as  she  came  up,  but  Elmer 
noticed  that  she  did  not  seem  afraid  now. 

"  I  guess  you've  done  the  business,  George,"  he  remarked 
to  the  new  recruit. 

"  Well,"  replied  the  other,  with  a  broad  grin,  "  that's 
what  I  think  myself,  Elmer." 

' '  She  understands  now  who  we  are,  and  that  we  haven 't 
any  intention  of  doing  her  men  any  harm! — you  explained 
all  that?  " 

"  Sure.  And  you  can  see  now  that  instead  of  looking 
scared,  she's  ready  to  grin  if  you  give  her  any  encourage- 
ment," replied  George. 

"  And  she  knows  that  we  want  her  to  go  out  with  us 
and  have  a  talk  with  her  old  man,  telling  him  what  a  fool 
he's  been  making  of  himself.  She  understands  all  that, 
does  she?  " 

"  Like  a  book,  and  is  ready  to  do  the  trick.  We'll  have 
our  Nat  back  in  short  order,  now, ' '  George  continued,  look- 
ing proud  and  happy  because  he  had  been  able  to  prove 
of  such  valuable  assistance  to  his  fellow  scouts,  even  be- 
fore he  got  his  uniform. 

"  All  right,  then.  The  sooner  we  start  the  ball  rolling 
the  better.  Come  along,  George." 

Presently  the  two  of  them  were  escorting  the  Italian 
woman  toward  the  foot  of  the  cliff. 

When  two  thirds  of  the  way  there  an  angry,  excitable 


142  PATHFINDER. 

voice  stopped  them.  On  looking  up  they  could  see  several 
heads  topping  the  sparse  vegetation  that  undoubtedly  grew 
along  a  ledge. 

"  Now,  tell  her  to  talk,  George!  "  said  Elmer. 

There  was  hardly  any  need,  for  the  woman  had  broken 
loose  on  her  own  account.  And  such  chattering  as  fol- 
lowed— Lil  Artha  afterward  declared  it  reminded  him  of 
a  monkey  cage  when  one  of  the  inmates  had  taken  more 
than  his  share  of  the  dinner  provided. 

But  the  woman  did  most  of  the  talking.  She  also  scolded, 
stamped  her  foot,  and  even  shook  her  fist  up  at  those  above. 

Evidently  her  arguments  must  have  had  a  convincing 
ring  about  them,  for  suddenly  she  turned  to  George  and 
smiled  amiably  as  she  said  something,  and  made  a  sug- 
gestive movement  of  both  shoulders. 

"  It's  all  right,  Elmer,"  declared  George. 

' '  Are  they  going  to  do  what  we  want  1  ' '  asked  the  scout 
master,  greatly  pleased. 

"  Sure.  And  I  reckon  there  he  comes  now.  One  of  the 
men  seems  to  be  helping  Nat  down  the  path  that  runs  along 
the  face  of  the  rock.  Bully !  "We  win  out !  ' ' 

A  loud  cheer  from  the  scouts  told  how  they  were  enjoying 
the  situation. 

Nat  Scott  waved  his  hand  to  them  in  greeting,  for,  having 
lost  his  hat  at  the  shack,  he  was  bareheaded. 

The  Italian  was  still  a  little  suspicious,  for  he  would  come 
only  two  thirds  of  the  way  down.  But  Nat  easily  made  the 
balance,  and  was  soon  shaking  hands  with  everyone  of 
his  mates,  just  as  though  he  had  been  separatee  from  them 
for  a  week. 


PATHFINDER.  143 

Leaving  the  woman  to  rejoin  her  people  the  scouts  made 
their  way  down  the  side  of  the  mountain  until  they  reached 
the  mill  pond. 

Nat's  story  was  brief,  and  just  about  what  Elmer  had 
guessed.  In  prowling  around  he  had  unexpectedly  come 
upon  the  three  men. 

They  had  seized  upon  him  and  threatened  him  with  their 
knives  if  he  so  much  as  gave  a  yell.  He  had  been  kept  for 
a  short  time  in  the  shack.  Then  Landy's  prowling  around 
seemed  to  fill  the  Italians  with  a  new  alarm,  and  the  three 
men,  together  with  the  woman,  had  hastily  fled. 

On  the  way  up  the  mountain  the  woman  had  discovered 
the  loss  of  something,  and  gone  back. 

Then  the  men  forced  him  to  hurry  along,  and  finally 
landed  him  on  that  secret  ledge  where  he  believed  there 
was  some  sort  of  cave. 

That  was  all  Nat  knew,  and  the  whole  thing  smacked 
strongly  of  mystery  until  he  heard  what  Elmer's  theory  was. 

"  Anyhow,"  Nat  said,  with  considerable  satisfaction  in 
his  voice  and  manner,  "  they  didn't  scare  me  one  little 
bit.  And  besides,  Elmer,  in  lots  of  places  I  went  and  made 
plain  marks  that  I  just  knew  you  could  read  any  old  time. ' ' 

"  That  stamps  you  a  true-blue  scout,  Nat,"  declared 
Elmer,  "  and  I  think  the  troop  has  reason  to  be  proud  of 
yon." 

"  Three  cheers  for  Comrade  Nat  Scott,"  suggested  im- 
pulsive Bed ;  and  they  were  given  with  such  a  vim  that  many 
of  the  big  bullfrogs  along  the  farther  bank  jumped  into 
the  mill  pond  in  great  alarm. 

As  their  main  object  had  been  carried  out  while  on  the 


144  PATHFINDER. 

way  to  the  haunted  mill,  and  there  was  no  further  reason 
for  lingering  after  they  had  eaten  the  "  snack  "  carried 
along  for  this  purpose,  the  Hickory  Ridge  troop  of  scouts 
took  up  the  homeward  march. 

After  talking  it  all  over  among  themselves  it  was  decided 
that  their  duty  compelled  them  to  give  the  game  and  fish 
warden  a  hint  as  to  what  was  probably  going  on  up  at 
Munsey's  mill. 

He  went  there  with  a  deputy  two  days  later,  but  the 
Italians  had  taken  warning  and  fled.  However,  the  warden 
found  and  destroyed  several  nets  with  which  the  fish  poach- 
ers had  been  illegally  gathering  the  finny  prizes  in  the 
long-deserted  pond. 

There  was  one  disappointed  scout  in  the  troop  however, 
and  this  was  Chatz  Maxfield. 

He  always  would  feel  as  though  he  had  missed  the  op- 
portunity of  his  life  in  spending  some  time  at  a  haunted 
mill  which  was  supposed  to  support  a  good  lively  ghost, 
and  never  once  chancing  to  come  upon  the  hobgoblin. 

However,  Chatz  would  continue  to  live  in  hope. 

At  any  rate,  everyone  was  positive  that  he  had  learned 
a  host  of  valuable  things  calculated  to  make  him  take 
higher  rank  as  a  woodsman,  and  a  true  scout.  And  no 
doubt  in  the  annals  of  the  Hickory  Ridge  Boy  Scouts  that 
little  hike  to  Munsey's  mill  would  always  be  read  and  re- 
read with  the  keenest  interest,  and  take  rank  with  the 
greatest  of  their  achievements. 

THE  END. 


ADDENDA 


BOY  SCOUT  NATURE  LORE 


BOY  SCOUT  NATURE  LORE  TO  BE  FOUND  IN  THE 
HICKORY   RIDGE   BOY   SCOUT   SERIES. 


Wild  Animals  of  the  United  States  )  . 

v  in  Number  I. 
Tracking  ) 

THE  CAMPFIEES  OF  THE  WOLF  PATROL. 

Trees  and  Wild  Flowers  of  the  United  States  in  Number  II, 
WOODCRAFT,  OR  How  A  PATROL  LEADER  MADE  GOOD. 


Eeptiles  of  the  United  States  in  Number  III. 

PATHFINDER,  OR  THE  MISSING  TENDERFOOT. 

Pishes  of  the  United  States  in  Number  IV. 

FAST  NINE,  OR  A  CHALLENGE  FROM  F  AIRFIELD. 

Insects  of  the  United  States  in  Number  V. 

GREAT  HIKE,  OR  THE  PRIDE  OF  THE  KHAKI  TROOP. 

Birds  of  the  United  States  in  Number  VI. 

ENDURANCE  TEST,  OB  How  CLEAR  GRIT  WON  THE  DAY, 


148 


THE  REPTILES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  reptiles  are  a  class  of  vertebrate  animals.  By  verte- 
brate animals  is  meant  those  having  a  backbone.  Reptiles 
are  cold-blooded  animals  having  scaly  skins,  and  breathing 
by  lungs  and  not  by  gills  as  do  the  fish.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem  they  are  related  to  the  birds.  In  prehistoric  times  they 
were  of  enormous  size  and  many  of  them  were  capable  of 
flying.  Fossil  forms  of  reptiles  are  very  numerous  and 
scientists  kave  given  these  fossil  forms  such  sonorous  names 
as  Dinosaurs,  Ichthyosaurs,  Plesiosaurs  and  Pterosaurs. 
These  names  are  made  up  of  Greek  words  meaning  terrible1 
lizards,  fish  lizards,  near  lizards  and  winged  lizards. 

The  class  of  reptiles  is  made  up  of  five  orders: 

Sphenodons ; 
Lacertilia; 
Ophidia ; 
Chelonia ; 
Crocodilia. 

Of  the  Sphenodons,  there  is  but  one  living  representa- 
tive. Its  home  is  in  New  Zealand.  Zoologists  tell  us  that 
this  reptile  is  more  closely  related  to  its  fossil  cousins  than 
any  other  now  in  existence.  Since  we  are  considering  only 
those  reptiles  which  an  American  boy  may  find  living  in 
their  natural  haunts  in  his  home  land,  discussion  of  the 
Sphenodon  is  out  of  place  in  this  article.  We  recommend, 
however,  that  you  read  up  about  this  curious  creature  that 
links  the  gigantic  prehistoric  lizards  with  the  little  crea-. 
tures  of  to-day's  world. 


-84  147 


THE  LIZARDS 


THE    LACERTILIA   OR   LIZARDS. 

Lizards  differ  from  snakes  in  that  the  right  and  left 
halves  of  the  lower  jaw  are  joined  together  by  bone  instead 


LIZARDS. 

1.  ZEBRA-TAILED  LIZARD.  2.  PACIFIC  SWIFT.  3.  COLLARED 
LIZARD.  4.  WHITE-BELLIED  SWIFT.  5.  COMMON  SWIFT 
OR  FENCE  LIZARD. 

of  elastic  ligament  and  in  that  they  have  legs  and  eyelids. 
They  are  found  in  the  warmer  climates.     Most  of  them 


152     REPTILES   OP   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

live  on  insects,  but  some  types  as,  for  instance,  the  Iguanas, 
live  entirely  on  vegetable  matter,  while  others  prey  on 
birds,  mice,  frogs,  etc. 

THE  GECKOS. 

The  Geckos  form  a  large  sub-order  of  lizards.  Their 
chief  characteristic  is  their  adhesive  toes,  which  enable 
them  to  cling  to  and  run  on  smoothest  surfaces  even  when 
upside  down.  They  do  not  like  the  hot  sunlight  and  largely 
feed  at  twilight  and  at  night.  The  Reef  Gecko  is  found 
in  Florida;  the  "Warty  Gecko,  so  called  on  account  of  the 
rows  of  large  wart-like  scales  on  its  back  and  sides,  in- 
habits Lower  California;  the  Cape  Gecko,  Lower  Cali- 
fornia; the  Banded  Gecko,  Texas,  New  Mexico,  Arizona 
and  California.  The  latter  is  the  most  gaudily  marked 
of  the  Geckos  found  in  the  United  States  and  is  likewise 
the  most  abundant.  It  may  be  seen  at  dusk  coming  out 
of  rock  crevices  to  feed  on  small  insects.  Many  consider 
this  lizard  poisonous  and  its  saliva  is  supposed  to  pro- 
duce painful  skin  eruptions.  Authorities,  however,  tell  us 
that  this  is  not  so.  The  first  three  Geckos  mentioned  live 
largely  in  trees,  but  the  Banded  Gecko  lives  on  or  near 
the  ground. 

THE  CHAMELEONS. 

The  American  Chameleons  are  not  true  chameleons,  but 
belong  to  the  same  family  as  the  Iguana.  They  have  come 
to  be  known  as  Chameleons  because,  like  the  rightful 
owners  of  that  name,  they  change  the  color  of  their  bodies. 
This  change  is  occasioned  by  the  differences  of  tempera- 
ture and  light.  One  species  is  found  in  the  United  States 
and  is  known  under  various  names,  such  as  the  green 
lizard,  the  fence  lizard  and  the  alligator  lizard.  It  is  called 
alligator  lizard  from  its  resemblance  to  a  young  alligator. 
This  lizard  is  found  in  the  southeastern  United  States 
from  North  Carolina  to  Florida.  The  common  colors  of 
the  American  Chameleon  or  the  Anolis,  which  is  its  scien-- 


REPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.      153 

tific  name,  are  brown  and  green.  These  colors  vary  with 
conditions.  When  asleep,  for  instance,  this  little  reptile 
is  green  above  and  white  below,  and  when  fighting  or 
frightened  it  becomes  green;  at  other  times  it  is  brown. 
Raymond  L.  Ditmars,  Curator  of  Reptiles  in  the  New 
York  Zoological  Park,  says  that  in  collecting  these  lizards 
and  placing  them  in  wire-covered  boxes,  he  has  "  always 
noted  their  change  from  various  hues,  prior  to  capture, 
to  a  scrambling  collection  of  several  dozen  emerald-green 
lizards.  If  the  gauze  cage  be  laid  down  for  half  an  hour 
or  so  while  the  collector  rests,  the  lizards  soon  take  on  a 
brownish  tinge,  but  as  soon  as  the  box  is  again  carried 
about  and  the  occupants  are  shaken  up  and  frightened, 
the  brilliant  color  appears  among  them  all."  He  further 
says  that  "  there  is  no  relation  or  influence  between  the 
lizard's  colors  and  its  surroundings.  The  change  of  color 
is  brought  about  principally  through  temperature  and  light 
and  their  influences  on  the  creature's  activity;  also  by 
anger,  fear  and  sleep." 

The  Anolis  stalks  its  prey  like  a  cat  does  a  mouse.  It 
crouches  and  creeps  forward  for  the  final  spring  with 
motions  that  are  exactly  similar.  It  lives  in  trees  and  feeds 
upon  insects.  These  little  creatures  make  interesting  pets 
and  will  soon  learn  to  take  their  food  from  your  hand.  The 
proper  quarters  for  it  is  a  wire-covered  fernery  which 
should  be  placed  in  a  warm  but  moist  situation  and  the 
foliage  daily  sprinkled  with  water.  The  Anolis  is  a  great 
water  drinker  and  will  find  the  drops  adhering  to  the 
leaves  of  the  plants. 


THE  IGUANAS. 

There  are  but  few  species  of  Iguanas  found  in  the  United 
States  and  these  only  in  the  southwestern  part.  They  are 
large  in  size  and  have  a  crest  of  spiny  scales  running  along 
the  neck  and  back.  They  use  their  tails  as  weapons  of 
offense  and  defense.  The  Cape  Iguana  is  a  species  found 
only  in  Lower  California  The  tail  is  ringed  with  large 
spines.  The  Black  Iguana  is  found  in  southern  Arizona. 


154     REPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

It  is  a  great  fighter  when  at  bay  and  is  then  no  mean 
antagonist.  It  does  not  invite  a  fight,  however,  but  will 
run  if  there  is  any  chance  of  escape.  Both  of  these  Iguanas 
reach  about  four  feet  in  length.  They  have  large  appe- 
tites and  eat  both  animal  and  vegetable  matter— birds, 
small  animals  and  tender  vegetation.  In  central  and  south- 
ern America  their  flesh  is  prized  as  a  food  and  it  is  said 
to  have  the  flavor  of  chicken.  They  live  part  of  the  time 


IGUANA. 

in  trees  and  part  of  the  time  on  the  ground.  The  Desert 
Iguana,  however,  is  terrestrial.  It  is  found  in  the  desert 
parts  of  the  southwestern  United  States — in  Colorado,  Cali- 
fornia, Arizona  and  Nevada.  It  is  largely  vegetarian.  The 
tail  is  brittle,  and  to  free  itself  when  held  by  it,  this  crea- 
ture will  easily  and  readily  snap  it  off. 


THE  CHUCKAWALLA. 

There  is  only  one  of  these  that  is  fairly  common  in  the 
United  States  and  that  is  found  in  the  deserts  of  the 
southwest.  It  is  the  largest  lizard  found  there  except  the 
Gila  Monster  which  will  be  described  later.  The  body  of 
the  Chuckawalla  is  broad  and  the  legs  short.  Its  length 
averages  about  a  foot.  It  lives  mostly  among  th'e  rocks  of 
the  deserts. 


REPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.      155 


THE  COLLARED  LIZARD. 

This  lizard  is  so  called  on  account  of  the  markings  of 
the  neck,  which  have  the  appearance  of  a  double  black 
collar.  The  throat  is  an  orange  color.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  gayly  colored  of  the  small  lizards.  It  is  quite  com- 
mon in  the  dry  and  stony  parts  of  the  western  states  and 
in  western  Texas  is  very  abundant.  It  is  a  great  eater 
and  is  not  afraid  to  fight  for  its  dinner.  One  peculiarity 
of  this  lizard  is  its  ability  to  run  on  its  hind  legs.  It  will 
gulp  and  bolt  food  as  large  as  itself. 


THE  LEOPARD  LIZARD. 

In  color  it  is  yellow,  spotted  with  dark  spots  and  lined 
across  the  back  with  dull  red  lines.  Its  habitat  includes 
Oregon,  California,  Nevada,  Arizona,  New  Mexico  and 
Texas. 

THE  ZEBRA-TAILED  LIZARDS. 

These  are  small  ground  lizards  found  from  Texas  to 
California,  especially  in  the  dry  sections.  They  run  with 
great  rapidity  with  the  tail  curved  upward,  which  exposes 
the  markings  of  the  lower  surface  Frequently  they  run 
like  the  Collared  Lizard,  on  the  hind  feet.  The  black-and- 
white  tail  markings  account  for  their  name. 


THE  SPOTTED  LIZARDS. 

These  are  small  ground  lizards  found  in  many  states 
from  Kansas  to  California  and  southward.  They  are  very 
quick  in  their  movements.  Their  food  consists  of  insects 
of  the  more  sluggish  type.  They  do  not  stalk  their  prey 
like  the  chameleons. 


156     EEPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


THE  SWIFTS. 

There  are  a  great  many  species  of  these  small  lizards  in 
the  United  States.  They  live  on  the  ground  among  rocks  in 
dry  places  and  are  called  swifts  on  account  of  the  speed 
with  which  they  are  able  to  get  over  the  ground.  Some 
of  them  are  covered  with  spiny  scales.  Clark's  Swift  is 
abundant  in  certain  parts  of  the  country.  It  is  found  in 
California,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Nevada,  Utah.  It  is  fond 
of  the  strongest  sunlight.  The  Yellow  Striped  Swift  is 
found  from  Texas  to  Nebraska  on  the  north,  into  Mexico 
on  the  south  and  California  on  the  west. 

The  Common  Swift  is  found  abundantly  both  in  the 
eastern  and  in  the  western  United  States.  They  like  dry, 
sandy  places  among  fallen  trees,  fences,  old  wood,  etc.  In 
color  they  are  gray  and  are  usually  in  harmony  with  their 
surroundings. 

The  Collared  Swift  lives  among  rocks  in  Arizona,  New 
Mexico  and  Texas.  It  has  a  black  collar  with  very  sharp 
spiny  scales. 

THE  HORNED  LIZARD. 

These  lizards  are  commonly  called  Horned  Toads,  because 
of  their  resemblance  in  the  shape  of  their  bodies  to  that  of  a 
toad  and  of  their  spiny  scales  which  have  the  appearance 
of  small  horns.  Their  habitat  is  in  the  hottest  and  driest 
parts  of  the  country.  They  are  fond  of  the  hottest  sun- 
light and  bury  themselves  in  sand  at  the  approach  of 
evening. 

The  Kegal  Horned  Lizard  is  found  in  Arizona  and  Colo- 
rado. 

The  California  Horned  Lizard  is  found  abundantly  in 
sections  of  California. 


THE  SNAKE-LIKE  LIZARDS. 

These  lizards  have  elongated  bodies  with  either  small 
limbs  or  no  external  evidence  of  such.     Some  cannot  be 


REPTILES   OF    THE   UNITED    STATES.      157 

easily  distinguished  from  snakes.  On  close  examination  it 
will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  ridge  along  each  side  of  the 
body. 

The  Keeled  Lizard  has  a  habit  of  keeping  its  tongue  pro- 
truded and  will  wipe  its  lips  with  it  after  feeding.     Its 


HORNED   TOAD. 

tail  is  easily  separated  from  its  body  and  when  so  sepa- 
rated, the  broken  off  portion  wriggles  violently.  New  tails 
grow  on.  It  is  found  in  California,  Oregon,  Washington 
eastward  from  California  to  Texas. 


158     REPTILES   OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

The  "Glass-Snake"  has  no  limbs  and  to  the  eye  of  any- 
one but  a  naturalist  would  easily  be  mistaken  for  a  snake. 
What  distinguishes  it  from  a  snake  is  the  presence  of  eye- 
lids and  ear  holes.  It  occurs  in  many  localities.  It  is 
common  from  the  Carolinas  to  Florida  and  as  far  north 
as  Illinois.  Like  the  Keeled  Lizard  it  has  the  ability  to 
shed  a  very  lively,  wriggling  tail.  It  feeds  on  worms  and 
slugs  that  it  finds  by  burrowing  and  will  occasionally 
break  and  eat  the  eggs  of  ground-nesting  birds. 

THE  BEADED  LIZARDS. 

This  is  a  family  of  large  lizards  whose  bodies  look  as 
if  covered  with  beads.  They  are  held  to  be  poisonous  by 
well-known  authorities  and  are  the  only  poisonous  lizards 
found  in  the  states. 

The  Gila  Monster  (pronounced  Hee-la)  has  a  thick  body 
with  short  limbs  and  a  short  tail.  In  color  it  is  pink  and 
black.  Its  length  is  about  a  foot  and  a  half.  It  is  found 
in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  and  is  named  after  the  river 
Gila,  the  valley  of  which  it  inhabits.  The  creature  will 
defend  itself  viciously  and  will  hold  on  tenaciously  with 
its  strong  jaws.  The  eggs  are  buried  in  the  sand. 

XANTHUS  LIZARDS. 
Small  lizards  that  are  found  where  the  tree  yuccas  grow. 

THE  RACE  RUNNERS. 

These  are  easily  distinguished  by  the  yellow  stripes  on 
their  bodies.  They  are  to  be  found  in  the  dry,  sandy  por- 
tions of  the  western  states,  burrowing  in  the  sand  and  when 
pursued  taking  refuge  in  these  burrows. 

THE  WORM  LIZARDS. 

These  are  a  low  grade  of  lizards  that  live  underground 
like  worms.  The  Worm  Lizard,  found  in  Florida,  is  scarcely 


REPTILES   OF    THE   UNITED    STATES.      159 

any  larger  around  than  an  earthworm.  It  is  able  to  move 
backward  or  forward  in  the  earth,  the  end  of  the  tail  being 
shaped  similar  to  the  head. 

THE  SKINKS. 

This  is  a  large  family.  They  are  burrowing  lizards.  The 
Red  Headed  Lizard  is  widely  distributed  throughout  the 
United  States.  It  is  very  timid  and  extremely  difficult  to 
capture.  Its  color  changes  with  its  age.  The  Black  Banded 
Skink  is  found  in  the  central  portions  of  the  United  States. 
The  Florida  Skink  in  southern  Florida.  The  Black  Skink 
from  Pennsylvania  southward  to  Texas. 

Here  we  reach  the  end  of  the  order  of  reptiles  known  as 
lizards ;  the  next  order  is  that  of  the  snakes. 


THE  SNAKES 


THE    OPHIDIA    OR    SNAKES. 

Snakes  are  closely  related  to  lizards.  Some  lizards,  as  you 
have  already  seen,  are  very  much  like  snakes  in  form.  The 
main  distinguishing  features  of  the  snake  are  the  elastic  tis- 
sue which  connects  the  two  halves  of  the  lower  jaw  and  the 
absence  of  eyelids.  Snakes  are  carnivorous  and  are  capa- 
ble of  moving  with  great  ease  and  swiftness  notwithstand- 
ing their  lack  of  limbs.  They  cast  their  skins  several  times 
a  year.  Many  of  the  snakes  are  poisonous,  and  authorities 
tell  us  that  there  is  no  external  characteristic  that  indicates 
which  are  poisonous  and  which  are  not. 

THE  BLIND  SNAKES. 

This  is  a  low  form  of  snake.  They  are  worm-like  and 
burrowing.  The  Texas  Blind  Snake  is  found  in  Texas  and 
New  Mexico.  The  California  Blind  Snake  in  California 
and  Mexico. 

THE  BOAS. 

The  most  common  member  of  this  family  that  comes 
within  the  range  of  this  article  is  a  snake  that  is  found 
in  the  Pacific  states  and  eastward  as  far  as  Nevada.  It 
is  over  a  foot  in  length  and  about  half  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter. Various  names  have  been  given  to  it ;  in  certain  sec- 
tions it  is  called  the  Rubber  Boa,  in  others  the  Silver  Snake, 
Two-headed  Snake,  Worm  Snake.  The  name  Two-headed 
Snake  is  given  it  evidently  on  account  of  the  stubby  ap- 
pearance of  the  tail  end. 

THE  RIBBON  SNAKES. 

These  snakes  have  a  yellow  stripe  along  the  back  and  the 
sides.    They  are  long,  slim  snakes ;  specimens  have  been  seen 
B  s— so  153 


164     EEPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

that  measured  nearly  three  feet  long,  although  the  average 
length  is  about  two  feet.  It  is  found  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, but  is  not  common.  It  frequents  the  banks  of  water 
to  feed  on  young  frogs  and  so  forth.  They  swim  well  and 
are  at  home  in  the  water.  In  the  Western  Ribbon  Snake 
the  back  stripe  is  darker  than  those  on  the  side,  or  in  some 
instances  a  different  color. 

THE  GARTER  SNAKES. 

These  are  found  all  over  the  United  States  and  are  per- 
fectly harmless.  They  are  abundant.  Burrowing  in  the 
ground  in  the  late  fall  they  remain  there  all  winter.  Even 
the  boy  living  in  the  large  cities  may,  without  going  out 
of  the  city  limits,  find  these  snakes.  They  are  quite  com- 
monly found  in  large  public  parks.  They  like  frogs  and 
toads  and  bolt  their  food.  There  are  many  varieties  of  this 
snake.  Both  the  Eibbon  Snakes  and  the  Garter  Snakes  be- 
long to  the  genus  Eutasnia,  which  is  the  most  numerous 
of  those  of  the  United  States.  They  are  all  striped  snakes 
and  are  very  much  like  the  water  snakes  in  structure. 
There  is  no  easily  distinguished  characteristic  that  would 
enable  a  boy,  at  a  glance,  to  tell  a  Garter  Snake.  They 
vary  widely  in  color  and  marking. 

THE  WATER  SNAKES. 

Here  is  another  genus  of  snakes  that  is  found  commonly 
in  many  sections  of  our  country.  They  frequent  the  vicin- 
ity of  water  and  swim  with  ease,  feeding  on  frogs,  toads, 
fish.  The  Queen  Snake  is  found  generally  east  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  It  is  brown  above  and  has  yellow 
stripes  on  the  side.  The  Banded  Water  Snake  is  the  water 
snake  which  is  commonly  found  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  United  States  east  of  Texas.  It  closely  resembles  the 
Moccasin,  a  poisonous  snake,  and  is  often  mistaken  for  it. 
It  attains  an  average  length  of  over  a  yard.  When  alarmed, 
like  all  the  water  snakes,  it  takes  to  the  water  for  refuge. 
This  genus  never  preys  on  birds  or  mice.  It  is  one  of  the 


KEPTILES   OP    THE    UNITED    STATES.      165 

most  common  of  the  southern  snakes.  The  Red-bellied 
Water  Snake  is  found  in  the  east,  but  not  north  of  Vir- 
ginia. The  Common  Water  Snake  is  the  northern  repre- 
sentative of  this  genus.  These  snakes  are  popularly  known 


WATER   SNAKE. 


a  ''Moccasins."  The  Diamond  Back  Water  Snake  is  com- 
n«)n  along  the  lower  Mississippi  states.  They  average  four 
feet  in  length.  May  be  seen  on  low  branches  overhanging 
water.  The  Green  Water  Snake  is  similar  in  habit  to 


166     REPTILES    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

the  Diamond  Back  and  is  found  in  the  Gulf  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley  states.  One  peculiarity  of  the  water  snakes 
is  their  love  of  their  home.  They  pick  out  a  particular 
sunning  place  and  will  return  to  it  regularly. 

THE  GROUND  SNAKE  OR  BROWN  SNAKE. 

This  is  a  common  snake,  found  all  over  the  United  States 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  is  small  in  size,  about  a 
foot  long  and  slender,  and  hides  under  stones,  where  it 
probably  feeds  on  the  worms  and  forms  of  insect  life  that 
live  in  such  places. 

THE  RACERS. 

The  serpents  of  this  type  are  very  active  and  nervous. 
The  Gopher  Snake,  or  Indigo  Snake,  is  one  of  the  largest 
found  in  the  United  States.  It  has  been  known  to  measure 
over  eight  feet  in  length.  It  is  found  from  Texas  eastward  in 
the  Gulf  states.  Its  scales  have  a  polished  appearance  and 
are  blue  black  in  color.  It  may  be  seen  in  sandy  stretches. 
When  feeding  it  holds  its  prey  down  with  part  of  its  body. 
It  is  not  particular  as  to  its  diet  and  will  eat  birds  with 
the  same  relish  as  cold-blooded  frogs  and  toads.  In  the 
Central  and  South  American  countries  this  snake  is  highly 
valued  as  a  "  ratter  "  and  frequents  human  habitations 
without  fear.  The  Black  Snake  is  abundant  in  the  United 
States.  It  has  a  bad  reputation.  It  is  said  to  be  a  fearless 
fighter,  not  afraid  to  attack  mac  even,  and  to  be  able  to 
"  charm  "  its  prey  within  its  reach.  These  attributes  are 
popular  beliefs  without  any  basis  of  fact.  It  is  fond  of 
small  birds  and  field  mice  and  is  what  may  be  called  a 
meadow  snake.  When  frightened  it  speeds  away  at  an 
incredible  rate.  The  CoachwThip  Snake,  found  in  the  south- 
east, is  even  more  agile  than  the  Black  Snake,  and  like  that 
serpent,  will  eat  smaller  snakes.  It  gets  its  name  from 
its  slender  structure  and  similarity  of  the  appearance  of 
its  scale  distribution  to  a  plaited  whip.  The  Striped  Racer 
of  the  southwestern  states  is  very  long  and  slender. 


KEPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.      167 


THE  RAT  SNAKES  OR  COLUBERS. 

These  are  large,  strong  snakes  that  squeeze  and  crush 
their  prey  by  coiling  themselves  around  it.  They  are  use- 
ful to  the  farmer,  as  they  inhabit  grainfields  and  prey  on 
the  rats  and  mice.  An  easy  way  to  tell  these  snakes  is  by 
their  flat  belly.  The  Fox  Snake  is  quite  common  in  the 
Central  states.  It  averages  about  four  feet  long.  It  de- 
rives its  name  from  an  odor  which  it  is  able  to  eject, 
which  smells  not  unlike  that  of  the  fox.  Often  it  will  kill 
and  eat  animals  as  large  as  rabbits.  It  deposits  its  eggs 
in  some  natural  hollow  and  leaves  them  there  to  hatch.  A 
snake  that  is  abundant  in  the  southeastern  states  is  known 
by  the  various  names  of  Corn  Snake,  Red  Chicken  Snake, 
Mouse  Snake,  Scarlet  Racer  and  Red  Coluber.  It  is  red, 
black  and  white.  It  is  not  as  much  of  a  climber  as  the 
Racers  are,  nor  is  it  as  agile ;  but  it  is  braver  and  will  fight 
when  cornered.  It  is  frequently  found  in  cornfields,  hence 
its  name.  The  Pilot  Black  Snake  or  Mountain  Black  Snake 
is  often  taken  for  the  Common  Black  Snake.  Its  head  is 
larger  and  it  is  spotted  with  white.  It  is  a  snake  frequently 
found  in  the  same  locations  as  the  rattlesnake  and  copper- 
head. The  Chicken  Snake  is  fond  of  eggs  and  young 
chickens.  Like  the  Fox  Snake  it  will  emit  an  unpleasant 
odor  when  caught. 

THE  BULL  SNAKES. 

The  Pine  or  Bull  Snake  is  one  of  the  largest  snakes 
found  in  the  east.  It  is  found  in  the  sandy  pine  woods 
of  the  coast.  When  disturbed  it  is  vicious  in  appearance, 
hisses  loudly  and  strikes  vigorously.  It  feeds  on  small  ani- 
mals and  birds.  It  is  also  called  the  Gopher  Snake.  "  The 
Yellow  Gopher  "  Snake  is  found  in  the  middle  and  western 
states. 

THE  GREEN  SNAKES. 

The  Green  Whip  Snake  or  Magnolia  Snake  is  green  above, 
yellow  below.  It  feeds  on  insects  and  is  a  good  climber. 


168     REPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

In  color  it  so  perfectly  matches  the  leaves  and  grass  that 
detection  is  difficult.  The  "  Grass  Snake  "  is  a  common 
snake  of  the  northeastern  states. 

THE  RING-NECKED  SNAKES. 

The  eastern  Ring-necked  Snake  is  found  in  the  eastern 
portion  of  the  United  States.  It  has  a  yellow  ring  about 
the  neck.  This  snake  is  not  given  to  venturing  abroad, 
but  prefers  to  lie  under  stones  and  the  loose  bark  of  trees. 

THE  KING  SNAKES. 

These  snakes  are  remarkable  for  their  colors.  They  are 
banded  around  their  bodies  with  rings  of  bright  colors. 
They  will  eat  rats  and  mice  and  other  snakes.  The  Milk 
Snake  or  "  Checkered  Adder  "  is  popularly  supposed  to 
be  fond  of  milk.  Scientists  tell  us  that  this  is  a  fallacy. 
It  feeds  on  mice,  rats,  other  snakes  and  lizards.  The  Red 
Milk  Snake  is  prettily  colored — red  and  yellow — and  is  the 
type  found  in  the  south.  All  the  King  Snakes  have  pro- 
nounced patterns.  More  than  in  any  other  genus  is  the 
habit  of  feeding  on  its  kind  developed — attacking,  and 
usually  successfully,  snakes  larger  than  themselves.  It 
is  from  this  characteristic  that  they  derive  their  name.  It 
is  bitten  by  the  poisonous  snakes  which  it  attacks  but  with- 
out effect;  the  King  Snake  tightens  its  grip  until  its  ad- 
versary is  lifeless. 

THE  RAINBOW  SNAKES. 

These  are  sometimes  called  the  mud  snakes,  from  the 
fact  that  they  are  abundant  in  swamps.  They  burrow  in 
the  mud.  The  Red-bellied  Snake  is  also  called  the  Rain- 
bow Snake,  Mud  Snake,  Horn  Snake  and  Hoop  Snake. 

THE  HOG-NOSED  SNAKES. 

These  snakes  are  fighters.  The  peculiar  formation  of  the 
mouth  makes  them  easily  distinguishable.  They  hiss  when 


REPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.      169 

disturbed  and  flatten  their  heads  and  necks.  They  are 
popularly  known  as  "  adders  "  and  "  vipers."  They  are 
found  in  dry  and  sandy  situations. 

The  common  Hog-nosed  Snake  is  found  in  dry,  sandy 
locations  practically  all  through  the  United  States  except 
on  the  Pacific  slope.  It  has  the  peculiar  habit  of  feigning 
death  when  cornered.  Before  it  tries  these  tactics  it  will 
make  a  terrific  show  of  ferocity.  It  is  capable  of  flatten- 
ing its  head  and  neck  in  a  formidable  manner  and  while 
assuming  this  attitude  it  hisses  sharply.  If  this  show  does 
not  scare  away  its  enemy  it  will  suddenly  be  seized  with 
a  spasm,  ending  by  turning  on  its  back,  limp  and  appar- 
ently lifeless.  "When  it  thinks  danger  is  past  it  recovers 
its  normal  position  and  quickly  gets  away.  This  snake 
is  known  popularly  as  the  "  Flat-headed  Adder,"  the 
"  Puff  Adder,"  "  Viper  "  and  "  Blow  Snake." 

THE  HARLEQUIN  OR  CORAL  SNAKE. 

Is  a  strikingly  marked  serpent.  Its  colors  are  scarlet, 
black  and  yellow.  This  snake  is  found  in  the  southeastern 
and  central  United  States.  It  is  a  near  relative  to  the  deadly 
Cobra-de-Capello  and  is  itself  poisonous.  A  burrowing 
reptile. 

THE  MOCCASINS. 

These  snakes  are  highly  poisonous.  The  Water  Moccasin 
is  one  of  the  largest  venomous  snakes  found  in  the  United 
States.  Some  have  been  caught  that  measured  four  feet 
in  length  and  almost  two  and  a  half  inches  around.  Cer- 
tain kinds  of  harmless  water  snakes  are  popularly  sup- 
posed to  be  and  are  called  ' '  moccasins. ' '  Unless  you  have 
a  very  close  knowledge  of  which  is  which,  you  should  be 
careful  how  near  you  approach  them.  The  Water  Moccasin 
is  found  quite  abundantly  in  the  east  from  the  Carolinas 
southward  and  along  the  Mississippi  states  as  far  north  as 
Illinois.  It  likes  swamps  and  is  found  abundantly  in  many 
southern  swampy  sections.  This  snake  is  often  known  as 
the  "  Cotton  Mouth  "  Snake.  It  is  vicious  and  pugnacious 


170     KEPTILES    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


REPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.      171 

and  will  fight  snakes  of  any  size.  The  prey  of  this  serpent 
consists  of  birds,  frogs,  other  snakes,  fish  and  small  ani- 
mals. The  Copperhead  derives  its  name  from  the  copper- 
ish  tint  on  its  head.  It  is  not  as  large  a  snake  as  the 
Water  Moccasin,  nor  does  it  like  the  swamps.  It  frequents 
rocky  locations  that  are  thickly  wooded.  It  has  a  peculiar 
habit  of  backing  away  from  danger  by  looping  its  body 
and  then  drawing  it  straight  again. 

THE  RATTLESNAKES. 

The  rattlesnake  is  the  most  interesting  as  well  as  the 
most  deadly  of  the  North  American  serpents.  Its  chief 
distinguishing  characteristic  is  the  rattle  at  the  end  of  tail. 
Curator  Ditmars,  of  the  New  York  Zoological  Park,  says 
that  although  he  has  "  studied  living  examples  of  many 
species  of  deadly  snakes — the  South  American  bushmaster 
and  the  fer-de-lance,  the  African  puff  adder  and  the  berg 
adder,  and  such  East  Indian  species  as  the  king  cobra,  the 
spectacled  cobra  and  Russell's  viper,  and  although  there 
is  indelibly  stamped  upon  his  mind  the  bloated  body,  the 
glassy  stare  and  the  rhythmic  hissing  of  the  berg  adder, 
the  rearing,  uncanny  pose  of  an  infuriated  cobra — there  is 
one  image  vivid  above  all,  the  rattlesnake.  Thrown  into 
a  gracefully  symmetrical  coil,  the  body  inflated,  the  neck 
arched  in  an  oblique  bow  in  support  of  the  heart-shaped 
head,  the  slowly  waving  tongue  with  spread  and  tremu- 
lous tips,  and  above  all,  the  incessant,  monotonous  whir  of 
the  rattle.  One  stroke — a  flash — of  that  flat  head  would 
inject  a  virus  bringing  speedy  death." 

The  rattlesnake  always  warns  its  enemy  of  its  presence 
by  its  rattle.  "Were  it  not  for  this  habit  there  would  prob- 
ably be  many  more  deaths  from  the  bites  of  this  snake. 
The  snake  does  not  add  a  new  ring  to  its  rattle  each  year, 
as  it  is  popularly  supposed  to  do.  The  Massasauga  is  one 
of  the  smaller  rattlesnakes,  averaging  about  two  feet  in 
length.  It  inhabits  swampy  places.  The  Timber  Rattle- 
snake is  found  from  Vermont  to  Florida  and  west  to  Kan- 
sas. It  is  abundant  in  the  mountains  of  New  York,  Mas. 


172     REPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

sachusetts  and  Pennsylvania.     In  the  spring  and  fall  the 
snakes  congregate  on  ledges  of  rocks ;  such  places  are  called 


RATTLESNAKE. 


"rattlesnake  dens."     They  spend  the  winter  in  crevices 
in  these  rocky  places.    The  Timber  Rattler  is  more  timid 


REPTILES   OF    THE   UNITED    STATES.      173 

than  many  of  its  cousins,  preferring  flight  to  combat,  but 
if  cornered  will  fight  as  fiercely.  It  feeds  on  birds  and 
small  animals.  The  largest  rattlesnake  is  the  Diamond- 
back.  Specimens  have  been  caught  that  measured  over 
'.ix  feet  long  and  four  inches  around.  This  snake  is  ont 
<£  the  most  deadly  in  the  world.  It  is  found  most  abun- 
dantly in  Florida.  It  is  never  known  to  strike  uncoiled  and 
rarely  retreats  from  danger.  The  food  of  this  snake  seems 
to  consist  mostly  of  small  animals.  It  takes  but  a  minute 
for  the  poison  from  the  Diamond-back's  fangs  to  kill  a 
rabbit. 


THE  TURTLES  AND  TORTOISES 


THE    CHELONIA  OR   TURTLES   AND  TORTOISES. 
4 

Turtles  and  tortoises  belong  to  the  order  known  as  Che- 
Ionia.  There  are  Fresh-water  Turtles,  Sea  Turtles  and 
Land  Turtles. 

THE  SEA  TURTLES. 

These  turtles  are  often  carried  by  storm  far  north  of 
their  customary  habitat,  which  is  in  the  warmer  waters  of 
the  southeastern  coast.  The  Leatherback,  or  Trunk  Turtle, 
is  the  largest  of  the  sea  turtles,  sometimes  reaching  a  weight 
of  half  a  ton.  It  is  not  found  in  abundance.  The  Logger- 
head Turtle  has  a  very  large  head.  Its  eggs  are  buried 
in  the  sand  about  May  or  June  and  the  young  turtles  hatch 
out  in  about  two  months'  time.  The  Green  Turtle  often 
strays  into  northern  waters.  The  flesh  of  this  turtle  is  prized 
by  epicures.  It  will  die  if  not  placed  on  its  back,  the  under 
shell  being  pressed  by  the  weight  of  the  upper  shell  against 
its  lungs,  causing  suffocation.  The  Hawksbill  Turtle  is 
distinguished  by  the  hawk-like  appearance  of  its  head.  It 
is  the  smallest  of  the  sea  turtles  and  the  one  from  which 
is  obtained  the  sought-after  tortoise  shells. 

THE  SNAPPING  TURTLES. 

These  are  the  largest  of  the  fresh-water  turtles.  Likf 
the  snakes  they  strike  at  their  prey  or  their  enemy,  and  their 
sharp  mandibles  make  them  a  formidable  antagonist.  They 
will  pull  down  their  prey  under  the  water  where  they  al- 
ways feed.  The  Alligator  Snapping  Turtle  is  found  in 
the  Gulf  states.  A  peculiarity  of  this  reptile  is  the  fleshy 

177 


EEPTILES   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES.      179 

filament,  grub-like  in  appearance,  which  it  has  in  its  mouth 
and  which  acts  as  a  bait,  attracting  fish  within  the  reach  of 
its  powerful  jaws. 


THE  MUD  TURTLES. 

The  Musk  Turtle  is  a  common  type  of  the  mud  turtle  and 
is  found  in  abundance  in  the  muddy  streams  of  the  eastern, 
part  of  the  United  States.  It  will  often  be  taken  on  a  fish 


B  s— 86 


BOX  TURTLE. 


180     REPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

hook.  It  derives  its  name  from  the  odor  it  gives  forth.  Sel- 
dom is  it  found  out  of  the  water.  It  snaps  when  taken  in  a 
way  which  rivals  the  snapping  turtle.  The  common  Mud 
Turtle  is  not  as  abundant  as  the  musk  turtle  to  which  it  is 
similar  in  habit,  crawling  along  the  muddy  bottoms  of  ponds 
and  rivers.  The  under  shell  of  the  Mud  Turtles  is  much 
broader  than  that  of  the  musk  turtles.  The  Banded  Mud 
Turtle,  found  in  Georgia  and  Florida,  has  three  yellow 
stripes  or  "bands"  on  its  shell.  The  Yellow-necked  Mud 
Turtle  gets  its  name  from  its  bright  yellow  neck. 

THE  TERRAPINS. 

The  Painted  Terrapin  or  Pond  Turtle  is  brightly  colored. 
The  under  shell  is  yellow  and  the  upper  shell  is  bordered 
with  mottled  red.  It  is  found  in  the  eastern  United  States. 
You  may  frequently  see  it  taking  a  sunning  on  a  partially 
submerged  log,  diving  into  the  water  upon  your  approach. 
It  feeds  on  insects,  small  fishes  and  water  weeds.  In  your 
aquarium  it  will  eat  small  pieces  of  beef,  fish,  worms  or 
tender  greens.  The  Chicken  Turtle  or  Long-necked  Terra- 
pin is  found  in  the  southeastern  states.  The  Yellow-bellied 
Terrapin  is  found  from  Virginia  to  Georgia.  It  is  one  of 
the  terrapins  that  are  sold  in  the  markets.  Many  may  be 
seen  there,  especially  in  Charleston.  The  Cumberland  Ter- 
rapin may  be  known  by  the  red  marking  on  each  side  of  its 
head.  This,  too,  is  sold  in  the  markets ;  it  is  found  in  the 
middle  western  states.  The  Diamond  Back  Terrapin  is  the 
most  highly  prized  by  epicures — seven-inch-long  turtles 
bringing  as  much  as  $5  or  more  apiece.  It  is  found  in  the 
marshes  of  the  eastern  and  southeastern  coast  states.  As 
the  size  increases,  the  price  advances.  They  are  becoming 
scarce.  It  always  feeds  under  water.  Grows  to  larger  size 
in  the  South.  The  Spotted  Turtle  is  found  in  abundant 
quantities  in  the  eastern  states.  It  has  round  yellow  spots 
scattered  over  its  black  upper  shell  and  may  be  seen  near 
ponds,  streams  and  marshy  places.  It  is  fond  of  water  that 
is  grassy,  hiding  therein. 


REPTILES   OF    THE    UNITED   STATES.      181 


THE  Box  TURTLES. 

This  turtle  is  fitted  with  a  complete  suit  of  armor,  into 
•which  it  can  withdraw  and  become  practically  immune  from 
harm.  It  is  not  an  aquatic  reptile,  its  food  consisting  prin- 
cipally of  vegetation.  It  is  fond  of  berries  and  is  found 
most  abundantly  in  grassy  thickets.  It  lives  many  years. 
At  the  approach  of  winter  it  burrows  into  the  ground. 

THE  TORTOISES. 

The  Tortoises  live  only  on  the  land.  The  Gopher  Tor- 
toise is  found  from  South  Carolina  to  Florida,  and  west  as 
far  as  Texas.  It  feeds  on  vegetation.  It  inhabits  principally 
the  dry  and  sandy  places  and  makes  long  burrows  into  which 
it  retires  from  the  hot  midday  sun.  The  eggs  of  this  tor- 
toise are  buried  in  the  sand  and  are  hatched  by  the  sun's 
rays  Agassiz's  Tortoise,  or  the  Desert  Tortoise,  is  dis- 
tributed over  the  deserts  of  Arizona  and  southern  California. 

THE  SOFT-SHELLED  TURTLES. 

The  shells  of  these  turtles  are  soft  and  the  head  has  the 
distinguishing  characteristic  of  a  pointed  nose.  They  are 
aquatic  and  are  much  like  the  snapping  turtles  in  habit. 
Large  specimens  can  do  damage  with  their  sharp  jaws. 
They  are  popularly  known  as  ' '  flapjack  turtles, ' '  and  they 
do  not  look  unlike  large  pancakes.  They  are  vicious  and 
can  make  severe  wounds  or  injuries.  Their  food  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  snapping  turtles ;  in  fact,  they  have  so 
many  points  in  common  that  they  are  often  called  "soft- 
shelled  snapping  turtles." 


THE   CROCODILES  AND  ALLIGATORS 


THE  CROCODILIA  OR  THE  CROCODILES  AND 
ALLIGATOR'S. 

The  Crocodiles  and  Alligators  belong  to  that  order  of 
reptiles  known  as  Crocodilia.  The  Alligator's  head  is  broad 
and  blunt ;  the  Crocodile 's  is  narrow  and  sharp. 


1.   ALLIGATOR.      2.    CROCODILE. 
185 


186     REPTILES   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

The  Alligators  are  distributed  over  the  low  and  swampy 
ground  from  North  Carolina  southward,  but  are  becoming 
rare  almost  to  the  point  of  extinction.  Their  skin  is  valued 
and  their  eggs  are  sought  as  food  so  that  they  are  annually 
becoming  rarer.  They  are  afraid  of  man,  but  if  cornered 
will  fight.  Their  jaws  are  large,  powerful  and  provided 
with  strong  teeth,  capable  of  inflicting  serious  injury. 
They  feed  on  fish,  animals  and  birds.  Alligators  make  a 
"bellowing"  sound.  The  Crocodile  is  livelier  and  more 
pugnacious  than  the  Alligator,  but  there  are  no  "man- 
eating"  Crocodiles  in  the  United  States. 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Adder,  Berg 177 

Checkered 168 

Flat-headed 169 

Puff  .....  169,  171 
Agassiz's  Tortoise  .  .  .  181 
Alligators  ....  183,  185 
Alligator  Snapping  Turtle  .  177 

Anoh'3 152 

Banded  Gecko       .     .     .     .152 

Mud  Turtle 180 

Water  Snake  ....  164 
Beaded  Lizards  .  .  .  .  loo 

Berg  Adder 177 

Black-banded  Skink    .     .     .159 

Iguana 153 

Snake 166 

Mountain    .....  167 

Pilot 167 

Blind  Snakes 163 

California       ....   163 

Texas 163 

Blow  Snake 169 

Boas 163 

Rubber 163 

Box  Turtle 173 

Brown  Snake 166 

Bull  Snake 167 

Bushmaster 171 

California  Blind  Snake     .     .  163 
Horned  Toad     .     .     .     .157 

Cape  Gecko 152 

Iguana 153 

Chameleon 152 

Checkered  Adder  .  .  .  .168 
Chelonia  ....  147,  177 
Chicken  Snake  .  .  .  .167 

Red 167 

Turtle 180 

Chuekawrlla 154 

Clark's  Swift 156 

Coachwhip  Snake       .     .     .   166 

Cobra,  King 171 

Spectacled 171 

Cobra-de-Capello  .  .  .  .169 
Collared  Lizard  .  .  151,  155 

Swift 156 

Colubers  .  167 


PAGE 

Colubers,  Red 167 

Common  Swift      .     .      151,  156 

Copperhead 171 

Coral  Snake 169 

Corn  Snake 167 

Cotton  Mouth  Snake  .  .  169 
Crocodiles  ....  183,  185 
Crocodilia  ....  147,  185 
Cumberland  Terrapin  .  .  180 
Desert  Iguana  ....  154 

Tortoise 181 

Diamond-back  Rattlesnake  .   173 

Terrapin 180 

Water  Snake  .     .     .     .165 

Dinosaurs 147 

Eutsenia 164 

Fence  Lizard 151 

Fer-de-lance 171 

Flapjack  Turtle  .  .  .  .181 
Flat-headed  Adder  .  .  .169 

Florida  Skink 159 

Fox  Snake 167 

Fresh-water  Turtle     .     .     .177 

Garter  Snakes 164 

Gecko 152 

Banded 152 

Cape 152 

Reef 152 

Warty 152 

Gila  Monster 158 

Glass  Snake 158 

Gopher  Snake  .     .     .      166,  167 

Tortoise 181 

Grass  Snake 168 

Green  Turtle 177 

Water  Snake  165 

Whip  Snake  167 

Ground  Snake  166 

Harlequin  Snake  169 

Hawksbill  Turtle  177 

Hog-nosed  Snakes  168 

Hoop  Snake 168 

Horn  Snake 168 

Horned  Lizard       ....   156 

Toads 157 

California       ....   157 
Regal 157 


187 


188 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Ichthyosaurs 147 

Iguana 152,  153 

Black 153 

Cape 153 

Desert 154 

Indigo  Snake 166 

Keeled  Lizard 157 

King  Cobra 171 

Snake 168 

Lacertilia    ....      147,  151 

Land  Turtle 177 

Leatherback  Turtle  .  .  .  177 
Leopard  Lizard  .  .  .  .155 

Lizards 149 

Beaded 158 

Collared  ....      151,  155 

Fence 151 

Horned 156 

Keeled 157 

Leopard 155 

Red-headed        .     .      .     .159 

Snake-like 156 

Spotted 155 

Worm 158 

Xanthus 158 

Zebra-tailed  .  .  151,  155 
Loggerhead  Turtle  .  .  .  177 
Long-necked  Terrapin  .  .180 
Magnolia  Snake  ....  167 

Massasauga 171 

Milk  Snake 168 

Red 168 

Moccasin    .     .     .  165,  169,  170 

Water      ...  .      .   169 

Mountain,  Black,  Snake  .      .   167 

Mouse  Snake 167 

Mud  Snake 168 

Turtle 179 

Musk  Turtle 178 

Ophidia       ....      147,  163 

Pacific  Swift 151 

Painted  Terrapin  ....  180 
Pilot  Black  Snake  .  .  .167 

Pine  Snake 167 

Plesiosaurs 147 

Pond  Turtle 180 

Pterosaurs  ....  147,  148 
Puff  Adder  .  .  .  169,  171 
Queen  Snakes 164 


PAGE 

Racers 166 

Scarlet 167 

Striped 166 

Race  Runners 158 

Rainbow  Snake     ....   168 

Rattlesnakes    .      .   171,  172,  173 

Diamond-back  .      .      .      .173 

Rat  Snake 167 

Red-bellied  Snake       .     .     .168 

Water  Snake  .      .      .     .165 

Chicken  Snake  .     .     .     .167 

Coluber 167 

Headed  Lizard  .      .     .     .159 

Milk  Snake 168 

Reef  Gecko 152 

Regal  Horned  Toad  .  .  .157 
Ribbon  Snakes  .  .  .  .163 
Ring-necked  Snakes  .  .  .168 

Rubber  Boas 163 

Russell's  Viper      .      .      .     .171 

Scarlet  Racer 167 

Sea  Turtles      .     .     .      177,  178 

Silver  Snake 163 

Skink 159 

Black-banded     .      .      .     .159 

Florida 159 

Snake-like  Lizards      .      .     .   156 

Snakes 163 

Banded  Water  .     .     .     .164 

Black 166 

Blind 163 

California       .     .      .     .163 

Texas 163 

Blow 169 

Brown 166 

Bull 167 

California  Blind      .     .     .163 

Chicken 167 

Red 167 

Coachwhip 166 

Copperhead 171 

Coral 169 

Corn 167 

Cotton  Mouth   .      .      .     .169 
Diamond-back  Rattle  .      .173 

Water 165 

Fox 167 

Garter 164 

Glass  .     .  158 


INDEX. 


189 


PAGE 

Snakes,  Gopher     .     .     166,  167 

Grass 168 

Green 167 

Water 165 

Whip 167 

Ground 166 

Harlequin 169 

Hog-nosed 168 

Hoop 168 

Horn 168 

Indigo 166 

King 168 

Magnolia 167 

Milk 168 

Mountain,  Black     .     .     .  167 

Mouse 167 

Mud 168 

Pilot  Black 167 

Pine 167 

Queen 164 

Rainbow 168 

Rat 167 

Red-bellied 168 

Water 164 

Milk 168 

Ribbon 163 

Ring-necked       ....  168 

Silver 163 

Texas  Blind  .  .  .  .163 
Two-headed  ....  163 
Water  ....  164,  165 

Worm 163 

Yellow  Gopher  .  .  .  .167 
Snapping  Turtle  ....  177 
Soft-shelled  Turtle  .  .  .181 
Spectacled  Cobra  ....  171 

Sphenodon 147 

Spotted  Lizard      ....  155 

Turtle 180 

Striped  Racers       .     .     .     .166 

Swifts 156 

Clark's 156 

Collared 156 

Common       .     .     .      151,  156 

Pacific 151 

White-bellied  ....  151 
Yellow-striped  .  .  .  .156 

Terrapin 180 

Cumberland       ....  180 


PAGE 

Terrapin,  Diamond-back       .   180 
Long-necked       .      .      .      .180 

Painted 180 

Yellow-bellied  .  .  .  .180 
Texas  Blind  Snake  ...  163 
Timber  Rattlesnake  .  .  .171 
Tortoises,  Agassiz's  .  .  .  181 

Desert 181 

Gopher 181 

Trunk  Turtle 177 

Turtles 175 

Alligator  Snapping .      .     .  177 
Banded  Mud     ....  180 

Box 181 

Chicken 180 

Flapjack 181 

Fresh-water       ....  177 

Green 177 

HawksbUl     ...  .177 

Land       ..;...  177 
Leatherback       ....  177 

Loggerhead 177 

Mud 179 

Musk 179 

Pond 180 

Sea 177,  "178 

Snapping 177 

Soft-shelled 181 

Spotted 180 

Trunk 177 

Two-headed  Snake     .     .     .163 

Viper 169 

Russell's 171 

Warty  Gecko 152 

Water  Moccasin    .     .     .     .169 

Water  Snakes  .      .     .      164,  165 

Diamond-back     .     .     .165 

Green 165 

Red-bellied  .  .  .  .165 
Whip  Snake,  Green  .  .  .167 
White-bellied  Swift  .  .  .151 
Worm  Lizards  ....  158 

Snakes 163 

Yellow-bellied  Terrapin  .     .   180 

Gopher  Snake    ....   167 

Striped  Swift     .     .     .     .156 

Xanthus  Lizards   ....  158 

Zebra-tailed  Lizards  .      151,  155 


The  Aeroplane  Series 

By  JOHN  LUTHER  LANGWORTHY 

1.  The  Aeroplane  Boys;  or,  The  Young  Pilots  First  Air 

Voyage 

2.  The  Aeroplane  Boys  on  the  Wing;  or,  Aeroplane 

Chums  in  the  Tropics 

3.  The  Aeroplane  Boys  Among  the  Clouds;  or,  Young 

Aviators  in  a  Wreck 

4.  The  Aeroplane  Boys'  Flights;  or,  A  Hydroplane 

Round-up 

5.  The  Aeroplane  Boys  on  a  Cattle  Ranch 


The  Girl  Aviator  Series 

By  MARGARET  BURNHAM 

Just  the  type  of  books  that  delight  and  fascinate  the  wide  awake  Girls 
of  the  present  day  who  are  between  the  ages  of  eight  and  fourteen  years. 
The  great  author  of  these  books  regards  them  as  the  best  products  of 
her  pen.  Printed  from  large  clear  type  on  a  superior  quality  of  paper; 
attractive  multi-colorjacketwrapperaroundeach  book.  Bound  in  cloth. 

1.  The  Girl  Aviators  and  the  Phantom  Airship 

2.  The  Girl  Aviators  on  Golden  Wings 

3.  The  Girl  Aviators'  Sky  Cruise 

4.  The  Girl  Aviators'  Motor  Butterfly. 

For  sale  by  all  booksellers  or  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  75c. 

M.  A.  DONOHUE  &  COMPANY 

701-733  S.    DEARBORN  STREET  ::  CHICAGO 


(ALWAYS  ASK  FOR  THE  DONOHUE 

COMPLETE  EDITIONS  —  THE  BEST  FOR  LEAST  MONEY 


WOODCRAFT 


By  OWEN  JONES  and  MARCUS  WOODMAN 

With  a  Message  to  Boy  Scouts  by  SIR  BADEN- 
POWELL,  Founder  of  the  Boy  Scouts'  Movement. 

II  I 

NE  of  the  essential  requirements  of  the  Boy 
Scout  training  is  a  Knowledge  of  Wood- 
craft. This  necessitates  a  book  embracing 
all  the  subjects  and  treating  on  ail  the  topics  that 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  Woodcraft  implies. 

This  book  thoroughly  exhausts  the  subject.  It  im- 
parts a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  woods  from  fungus 
growth  to  the  most. stately  monarch  of  the  forest: 
it  treats  of  the  habits  and  lairs  of  all  the  feathered  and 
furry  inhabitants  of  the  woods.  Shows  how  to  trail 
wild  animals;  how  to  identify  birds  and  beasts  by 
their  tracks,  calls,  etc.  Tells  how  to  forecast  the 
weather,  and  in  fact  treats  on  every  phase  of  nature 
with  which  a  Boy  Scout  or  any  woodman  or  lover  of 
nature  should  be  familiar.  The  authorship  guarantees 
it's  authenticity  and  reliability.  Indispensable  to  "Boy 
Scouts"  and  others-  Printed  from  large  clear  type  on 
superior  paper. 

Embellished  With  Over  100  Thumb  Nail 
Illustrations  Taken  From  Life 

Bound  in  Cloth.     Stamped  with  unique  and 
appropriate  designs  in  ink* 


Price,  75C 


M.  A.  DONOHUE  &  CO. 

79 1-72 7  S.  Dearborn  St.  CHICAGO 


The  American  Boy's 
Sports  Series 

BY   MARK    OVERTON 

12  Mo  Cloth.  Illustrated.  Price  60c  Each. 


D 


HESE  stories  touch  upon  nearly  every 
sport  in  which  the  active  boy  is  interested. 
Baseball,  rowing,  football,  hockey,  skat- 
ing, ice-boating,  sailing,  camping  and  fishing  all 
serve  to  lend  interest  to  an  unusual  series  of 
books.  There  are  the  following  four  titles: 

1.  Jack  Winters'  Baseball  Team;  or,  The 

Mystery  of  the  Diamond. 

2.  Jack  Winters'  Campmates;  or,  Vacation 

Days  in  the  Woods. 

J ,    Jack  Winters'  Gridiron  Chums;  or,  When 
the  Hall-hack  Saved  the  Day. 

4.    Jack  Winters'  Iceboat  Wonder;  or,  Lead- 
ing the  Hockey  Team  to  Victory. 


M.  A.  DONOHUE  &  COMPANY 

CHICAGO 


VICTORY  BOY 
SCOUT  SERIES 


Stories  by  a  writer  who  possesses  a  thorough  knowledge  of  this 
subject.    Handsomely  bound  in  cloth;  colored  jacket  wrapper. 

1 

The  Campfires  of  the  Wolf  Patrol 

2 

Woodcraft;  or,  How  a  Patrol  Leader  Made  Good 

3 
Pathfinder;  or,  the  Missing  Tenderfoot 

4 
Great  Hike;  or,  The  Pride  of  Khaki  Troop 

5 
Endurance  Test;  or,  How  Clear  Grit  Won  the  Day 

6 
Under  Canvas;  or,  the  Search  for  the  Carteret  Ghost 

7 
Storm-bound;  or,  a  Vacation  among  the  Snow  Drifts 

8 
Afloat;  or,  Adventures  on  Watery  Trails 

9 
Tenderfoot  Squad;  or,  Camping  at  Raccoon  Bluff 

10 
Boy  Scouts  in  an  Airship 

11 
Boy  Scout  Electricians;  or,  the  Hidden  Dynamo 

12 
Boy  Scouts  on  Open  Plains 

for  Sale  by  all  Book-sellers,  or  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  40  cents 

M  •  A • DONOHUE • &  -  COMPANY 

711    SOUTH  •  DEARBORN  •  STREET    •     •    CHICAGO 


THE  BOYS'  ELITE  SERIES 

12mo,  cloth.    Price  75c  each. 

Contains  an  attractive  assortment  of  books  for  boys  by 
standard  and  favorite  authors.  Printed  from  large,  clear  type 
on  a  superior  quality  of  paper,  bound  in  a  superior  quality  of 
binders'  cloth,  ornamented  with  illustrated  original  designs  on 
covers  stamped  in  colors  from,  unique  and  appropriate  dies. 
Each  book  wrapped  in  attractive  jacket. 

1.  Cudjo's     Cave Trowbridge 

2.  Green   Mountain   Boys 

3.  Life  of  Kit  Carson — Edward  L.  Ellis 

4.  Tom  Westlake's  Golden  Luck Perry  Newberry 

5.  Tony  Keating's  Surprises Mrs.  G.  R.  Alden  (Pansy) 

6.  Tour  of  the  World  in  80  Days Jules  Verne 

THE  GIRLS'  ELITE  SERIES 

12mo,  cloth.    Price  75c  each. 

Contains  an  assortment  of  attractive  and  desirable  books  for 
girls  by  standard  and  favorite  authors.  The  books  are  printed 
on  a  good  quality  of  paper  in  large  clear  type.  Each  title  is 
complete  and  unabridged.  Bound  in  clothene,  ornamented  on 
the  sides  and  back  with  attractive  illustrative  designs  and  the 
title  stamped  on  front  and  back. 

1.  Bee  and  the  Butterfly Lucy  Foster  Madison 

2.  Dixie  School  Girl Gabrielle  E.  Jackson 

3.  Girls  of  Mount  Morris Amanda  Douglas 

4.  Hope's  Messenger Gabrielle  E.  Jackson 

5.  The  Little  Aunt Marion  Ames  Taggart 

6.  A  Modern  Cinderella Amanda  Douglas 

For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  75c 

M.   A.    DONOHUE    &    COMPANY 

711  S.  DEARBORN  STREET  :s  CHICAGO 


Radio  Boys  Series 


1.  Radio  Boys  in  the  Secret  Service;  or,  Cast  Away  on 

an  Iceberg FRANK  HONEYWELL 

2.  Radio  Boys  on  the  Thousand  Islands;  or,  The  Yankee 

Canadian  Wireless  Trail-FRANK  HONEYWELL 

3.  Radio  Boys  in  the  Flying  Service;  or,  Held  for  Ran- 

som by  Mexican  Bandits J.  W.  DUFFIELD 

4.  Radio  Boys  Under  the  Sea;  or,  The  Hunt  for  the 

Sunken  Treasure J.  W.  DUFFIELD 

5.  Radio  Boys  Cronies;  or,  Bill  Brown's  Radio 

WAYNE  WHIPPLE 

6.  Radio  Boys  Loyalty;  or,  Bill  Brown  Listens  In _ 

WAYNE  WHIPPLE 


Peggy  Parson's  Series 

By  ANNABEL  SHARP 

A  popular  and  charming  series  of  Girl's  books  dealing  in  an  interesting 
and  fascinating  manner  with  the  the  life  and  adventures  of  Girlhood  so 
dear  to  all  Girls  from  eight  to  fourteen  years  of  age.  Printed  from  large 
clear  type  on  superior  quality  paper,  multicolor  j acket.  Bound  in  cloth. 

1.  Peggy  Parson  Hampton  Freshman 

2.  Peggy  Parson  at  Prep  School 

For  sale  by  all  booksellers  or  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  75c* 

M.  A.  DONOHUE  &  COMPANY 

701-733  S.    DEARBORN  STREET  ::  CHICAGO 


Motor  Boat  Boys  Series 

By  Louis  ARUNDEL 

1.  The  Motor  Club's  Cruise  Down  the  Mississippi;  or 

The  Dash  for  Dixie. 

2.  The  Motor  Club  on  the  St.  Lawrence  River;   or 

Adventures  Among  the  Thousand  Islands. 

3.  The  Motor  Club  on  the  Great  Lakes;  or  Exploring 

the  Mystic  Isle  of  Mackinac. 

4.  Motor  Boat  Boys  Among  the  Florida-Keys;  or  The 

Struggle  for  the  Leadership. 

5.  Motor  Boat  Boys  Down  the  Coast;   or  Through 

Storm  and  Stress. 

6.  Motor  Boat  Boy's  River  Chase;  or  Six  Chums 

Afloat  or  Ashore. 

7.  Motor  Boat  Boys  Down  the  Danube;  or  Four  Chums 

Abroad 


1.  Motor  Maids'  School  Days 

2.  Motor  Maids  by  Palm  and  Pine 

3.  Motor  Maids  Across  the  Continent 

4.  Motor  Maids  by  Rose,  Shamrock  and  Thistle. 

5.  Motor  Maids  in  Fair  Japan 

6.  Motor  Maids  at  Sunrise  Camp 

For  sale  by  all  booksellers  or  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  75c. 

M.  A.  DONOHUE  &  COMPANY 

701-733  S.    DEARBORN  STREET  ::  CHICAGO 


A    000106911     1 


